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THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

An Economic History and Practical 
Manual of the Wheat Industry 







By 
PETER TRACY DONDLINGER, Ph. D. 

Formerly Professor of Mathematics in Fairmount College 




ILLUSTRATED 



NEW YORK 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

LONDON 

Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Limited 

1908 



A^'l 






LIBHARY of CONGRESS* 
I wo CODies rtetei.rf 

AUG 13 1908 

due, I ICtdZ) 



OLASa 



COPY b/ 



AXc, N., 



Copyright 1908, by 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

All Rights Reserved 



[ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND] 



To 

WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, LL.D. 

Pehxtiah Perit Professor of Political and Social Science 
in J 'ale University, 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 

for his guiding instruction and the encouragement received from his 
friendship and sterhng character link the volume with the hon- 
ored name of one of the greatest lights of our generation 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

In addition to individual acknowledgments made throughout 
the volume, I wish to express my gratitude to those who have 
aided in the work by many kindnesses in the way of advice and 
suggestion, and by the furnishing of various data. My acknowl- 
edgments are due primarily and chiefly to Professor W. G. 
Sumner and Dr. J. Pease Norton — to the former for that 
general aid and counsel that can be offered only after wide 
historical research, and for reading and criticising a large por- 
tion of the work; to the latter for his indefatigable kindness in 
giving continuous aid in obtaining material, and in giving help 
of a technical nature. Much assistance and encouragement was 
given by Mr. M. A. Carleton, Cerealist of the United States 
Department of Agrieultui'e ; by Mr. Wm. Saunders, Director of 
the Central Experimental Fann, Canada; and by Mr. W. M. 
Hays, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture of the United States. 

One of the most important of the several institutions which 
are now expending considerable financial resources in economic 
and industrial research is the Carnegie Institution of Wash- 
ington, from which financial aid has been received in some of 
the investigations necessitated by the preparation of this vol- 
ume. Through the kind offices of Mr. P. B. Smith, President of 
the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, material encouragement 
has also been received from the St. Anthony and Dakota Ele- 
vator Company and from the Washburn-Crosby Company. 

For carefully reading over the typewritten manuscript of the 
book and suggesting many improvements in diction and phrase- 
ology, I am indebted to my former pupil, Miss Elizabeth Hodg- 
son. She is not to be held responsible, however, for any im- 
perfections in language that may yet remain, inasmuch as I 
made all final eoi-rections and changes. — [The Author. 

vi 



PREFACE 

The great industries which have been essential to the rise of 
state or nation have never received the attention which their 
importance should command, and the chronicling of their events 
greatly extends the meaning of economies and history proper. 
Industrial history has indeed received a certain amount of 
consideration, but in the main it has been somewhat desultoi'y, 
and the field is so new that only a few of the great basic in- 
dustries, such as those of cotton, corn, alfalfa and coal, have 
even been attempted. It is my purpose in this book to add 
another volume to the industrial-economic literature which 
deals with industries in their entirety. While many important 
works are available that cover certain phases of the wheat in- 
dustry A-ery adequately, and a few which cover a number of 
phases very admirably for the limited space that is devoted to 
them, there is, however, no general work treating the entire 
subject as completely and extensively as is merited by the in- 
dustry which furnishes the most staple food of the civilized 
world. Unquestionably the need of such a book on wheat is 
patent. 

A work of this nature is of direct or indirect interest to all 
consumers of bread. The historical or evolutionary aspect is 
of universal significance. Those directly interested in the 
wheat industry, whether as growers, dealers, or millers, not 
only should be familiar with the technicalities of the phase of 
the industry in which they are engaged, but they should have 
accessible a general knowledge of the whole industry. No ag- 
ricultural college or exj^eriment station should be without a 
text-book on the subject. The agTicultural or economic section of 
every library should certainly contain a general reference book 
on wheat. The method of treating the subject demanded by 



Vlll THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

these needs was one that would appeal to the popular reader 
as well as to the student, instructor and experimenter. Treated 
from the American point of view, the subject demanded a less 
detailed consideration for foreign countries. 

The book is the result of fifteen years of personal experience 
in the wheat fields of our Northwest, and of a careful study of 
the works listed in the appended bibliography. Not a little 
additional information was obtained from several hundred let- 
ters written on phases of the subject with Avhieh I was not 
si;ffieiently familiar, and concerning which little material that 
was recent or reliable could be found in the literature. Space 
limited the references in footnotes to the most important ones. 
If moi-e detailed information is desired on certain subjects than 
the limits of the book have permitted, references quite ample 
for all purposes will be found in the topical index of authors 
included in the bibliography. P. T. D. 

New Haven, Conn., May 1, 1908. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Wheat Grain and Plant 1 

II. Improvement 29 

III. Natural Environment 47 

IV. Cultivation 58 

V. Harvesting — 73- 

VI. Yield and Cost of Production 100 

VII. Crop Rotation and Irrigation 108 

VIII. Fertilizers 124 

IX. Diseases 148 

X. Insect Enemies 170 

XI. Transportation 188" 

XII. Storage -201 

XIII. Marketing 214r- 

XIV. Prices 234 

XV. Milling 262 

XVI. Consumption . 283 

XVII. Production and Movement 303 

Classification of Wheat 321 

Bibliography 326 

Index 359 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The Bonanza Harvester Fi'ontispieee 

Development of Wheat Plant 3 

Distribution of Wheat Varieties 9 

Root System of Wheat Plant 12 

Organs of Wheat Reproduction 14 

Coats of a Wheat Kernel 15 

Cross Section of Wheat Grain IG 

A Stool of Wheat 17 

Opening of Wheat Flowers 20 

Harvesting Minnesota Blue Stem Wheat 34 

Crossing as a Cause of Vai'iation .38 

Diagram of Pedigree of Hybrid 42 

Durum Wheat Districts 48 

Wheat Plants from Good and Poor Seed 52 

Combined Steam Plow, HaiTow and Seeder 60 

Typical Farm Wheat Drill 64 

A Modern Press and Disc Drill 67 

Typical Force Feed Broadcast Seeder 68 

Forms of Early Sickles and Scythes 79 

Early and Modern Cradles 80 

Gallic Header 81 

Wheat Header in Opei-ation 82 

An Early English Reaper 85 

A Modern Self-Rake Reaper 86 

A Modern Self-Binding Harvester 87 

Section of a Modern Threshing Machine 98 

Combined Harvester and Thresher 104 

Typical Wheat Field Where Rotation is Followed ... 112 

Furrow Method of Irrigation 120 

Twenty Self-Binding Harvesters at Work 128 

Combined Grain and Fertilizer Drill 135 

Three Threshing Outfits at AVork .156 



ILLUSTRATIONS XJ 

PAGE 

Sections of Smutted Wheat Straw 158 

Stinking and Loose Smut 159 

Aecidia on Barberry 162 

Two Forms of Rust Spores 163 

Black and Red Rust 164 

Hessian Fly 171 

Hessian Fly on Wheat 172 

Chinch Bug I74 

Wheat Midge 176 

Wheat Plant Louse 177 

Rocky Mountain Grasshopper 178 

Gx'ain Aphis or Green Bug . 180 

Granary Weevil 182 

Grain Moth 183 

Flour Moth 184 

Transportation of Wheat on Water 191 

Typical Small Storage Elevators 202 

Storage in Open on a Farm 210 

Wheat Awaiting Shipment by River 216 

Storage at Primai-y Market 236 

Mexican Hand Stone 262 

American Indian Foreign Mortar 263 

The Quern Mill 264 

Details of a Dutch Windmill 266 

Section of Large Modern Flour Mill 272 

New Buffalo Flour Mill 278 

Field of Duram Wheat 292 

American Reaper in Russian Wheat . . . " 306 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

CHAPTER I. 
WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 

ORIGIN. 

The Word Wheat can be traced back through the Middle 
Englisli whete to Old English hivaete, which is allied to hwit, 
white. The German Weizen is related to weisz, which also 
means white. The French hie suggests blemir, to grow pale. 
Perhaps wheat was called white, to distinguish it from rye and 
other dark colored grains. Triticum, the botanical and classical 
name, doubtless comes from iritus, which is a participle from 
the Latin terere, to grind. The Italian frumento, and the 
similar French froment, are descended from the Latin word 
for corn or grain, frumentum, which originated in frux, fruit. 
The Spanish trigo has evolved through French and Latin from 
the Greek trigonon, which has for its roots tri, three, and 
gonia, a corner or angle. Thus the most widely used names 
of the wheat plant were determined by the characteristics of 
the seed, as color, shape, the property of having to be ground 
for food, and the natural relation of the seed to the plant. 

The Geographical Origin of wheat has never been certainly 
deteiTuined. Such evidence as exists seems to point to Mesopo- 
tamia, but this is largely a matter of opinion. While wheat 
has been found growing apparently wild, the doubt always 
seems to remain that it may have simply escaped from culti- 
vation. However, the belief that wheat once grew wild in the 
Euphrates and Tigris valleys, and spread from these to the 
rest of the world, has wider acceptance than any other. De 
Candolle's conviction rests largely on the evidence of Berosus 
and Strabo, while Lippert, in addition to the former, also 
cites Olivier and Andre Michaux. Darwin appears to have 
favored the same theory. From this center wheat is sup- 
posed to have spread to Phoenicia and Egypt. The Chinese 
considered it a gift from heaven. Homer and Diodorus 
Siculus say that it grew wild in Sicily. Humboldt denies 



d, THE BOOK OF WHEAT. 

the claim of Hermandez that a wheat native to Chili was 
found. The Egyptian historian, Manetho, attributed its dis- 
coverj'^ to Isis. 

The Historical Origin of wheat is unknown. The most an- 
cient languages mention it, and under different names. 
Whether we assume that these names, with the languages in 
which they are found, became differentiated from a common 
parent, or whether we assume that wheat evolved and spread 
over the Old World so independently of man that its name 
did not accompany its progress, in either case a period of 
time long enough to antedate our oldest languages will be 
required. The fact that it has been found in the prehistoric 
habitations of man, notably in the earliest Swiss lake dwell- 
ings, is proof of its antiquity. 

The Swiss of the neolithic period cultivated four distinct 
s'pecies of wheat. Wheat seems to have been cultivated in 
China 3,000 years B. C, and was a chief crop in ancient 
Egypt and Palestine. The Bible first mentions wheat in 
Genesis, Chap. 30, v. 14. 

Biological Origin. — The botanist calls wheat a grass. The 
evolutionist has ascended the biological stream one stage far- 
ther, and calls it a degenerate and degraded lily, using these 
terms, of course, in an evolutionary sense. He assumes a 
great group of plants of a primitive type from which sprang 
first the brilliantly colored lilies, then the degraded rushes and 
sedges, and lastly the still more degenerate grasses. From 
these grasses man developed the cereals, and among them 

CLASSIFICATION OF THE GRASS FAMILY.' 

(Maydeas: Corti-Teosinte-Tribes 
Andropogone:^ : Sugar Cane-Sorghum 
Zoysieae 
One I TristeginccB 

Flowered Paniceae : Millet-Hungarian Grass 
\ Oryzese : Indian Rice-Rice 

GRAMINE^ { f Phalardieae: Canary and Sweet Vernal Grass 

I Agrostidese: Timothy-Red Top 
Spikelets | Avenc-c : Oats 

Many- \ Festucese: Blue Grass-Bromus-Orchard-Grass Fescues 
Flowered Chlorides;: Grama and Buffalo Grass 

Hordese : Wheat-Barley-Rye-English Rye-Grass 
Bambusea;: Bamboo 

' Minn. Bui. 62, p. 392. 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 3 

wheat. This is the hypothesis that accounts for most of the 
facts involved. AH of the grass family, Gramineae, are easily 
distinguished by having only one seed leaf, and for this rea- 
son they are known as monocotyledons. 

The wild animal grasses, Aegilops, found in such abundance 
in southern Europe, and resembling true wheat in every point 
except in size of grain, are considered as the nearest kin to 
wheat. Efforts have been made to develop wheat from ovata, 
tlie most topical species. Fabre of Agde, Fi-ance, claimed that 
in 1838 he began to improve this plant by selection, and that 
by 1846 he had obtained a very fair sample of wheat. His 
results have not been supported by other conclusive experi- 
ments, and scientists generally have not accej^ted them. There 
was doubtless cross-fertilization. 

The accompanying figure represents different stages in the 
evolution of Avheat.' 




DEVELOPMENT OF THE WHEAT PLANT 



Tlie above sketch from a photograph shows: (1) ^gilops ovata, a small dwarfed 
specimen, but one gram of wheat in each head, found in Southern Europe; 
(2) The same species better grown and developed; (3) Tritinim spelta, the 
cultivated spelt of Europe; (4) THfio/w PotowCT*wij Polish wlieat or giant 
rye; (5) Head of Nebraska wheat. While this is an mstructive comparison, 
it is very questionable whether ITo. 5 could be developed from No. lin a rea- 
sonable number of years. 

» Minn. Bui. 62, p. 81. 



4 THE BOOK OF WHEAT. 

The results of recent investigations have shown that improve- 
ment by selection is relatively a slow process 

DISTRIBUTION. 

Longitudinal. — The migration of wheat has necessarily been 
closely connected with the migration of peoples, and especially 
with those of Europe. Consequently its general direction of 
spreading has been westward, though it is claimed that it 
spread eastward to China at a very early date. 

In the United States, the meridian bisecting the wheat acre- 
age passed through eastern Ohio in 1850, and was about 81 
degrees. In 1860 it was 85 degrees 24 minutes, in 1870 88 
degrees, and in 1880 it had reached middle Illinois, 88 degrees 
45 minutes. The center of wheat production at the time of 
the census in 1900 was near the east central border of Iowa, 
the meridian of 95 degrees. This shows that the westward 
march of wheat proceeded at a much more rapid pace from 
1880 to 1900 than from 1860 to 1880. During the last half 
of the nineteenth century, the center of wheat production 
moved west about 680 miles and north about 99 miles. 

Latitudinal. — As European peoples and their descendants 
are meeting the demands of increasing population by con- 
tinually subjecting to cultivation land of colder and of warmer 
latitudes, the domain of wheat is being extended on both 
sides of the temperate zones. In 1887 Sering published a map 
of North America in which he gave as the northern boundary 
of wheat growing territory a line beginning south of Lake 
Ontario running fully half way around it, a little north of the 
iiortliern boundary of the other Great Lakes, through Lake of 
the Woods, through the southeast end of Winnipeg lake, 
northwest to the Athabasca river, following this to the Rockies, 
and beginning again in northeastern Washington. 

In 1894 the editor of the Social Economist denied that 
Avheat could be raised in Canada or Siberia north of the 55th 
parallel. This widespread notion that wheat could not be 
raised in the far north was gradually dissipated as wheat 
crept closer and closer to the Arctic circle. Wheat has fre- 
quently been matured at Sitka, Alaska, 56 degrees north lati- 
tude. At the Sitka station, winter rye, spring wheat, barley, 
oats and buckwheat matured both in 1900 and 1901. In the 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 5 

Peace river valley, extending 700 miles north of the Canada 
border, 58 degrees north latitude, enough wheat, barley and 
oats have been grown to bi'ing about the erection of a 100- 
barrel roller mill at Vermilion, on the Peace river. Spring 
wheat of the Romanow variety matured at the Kenai station 
in Alaska in 1899, 60 degrees north. Experiments have shown 
that winter wheat will ripen here in ordinary seasons. On 
the Mackenzie river wheat has been grown farther north than 
62 degrees. Spring wheat and winter rye have matured per- 
fectly 65 degrees 30 minutes north latitude at Rampart, about 
200 miles from the Arctic circle, and at Dawson, equally as far 
north, over 1000 miles north of the United States. While 
wheat can be grown this far north, the chances of failure are, 
of course, much greater than in a climate more temperate. 
Barley, oats and rye will grow farther north than wheat. 

Towards the equator the limits of wheat generally vary be- 
tween 20 and 25 degrees north and south latitude. It thrives 
in southern Brazil, in Cuba, and in southern Rhodesia in South 
Africa at these latitudes. 

Altitudinal. — Another very important factor in determining 
where wJieat can be raised is the altitude, which may be con- 
sidered as the complement of latitude. On the mountain 
plains of Colombia and Ecuador it grows on the equator. Thus 
wheat is raised in America from the equator, 10,000 feet above 
sea level, to Dawson and the Klondike river, 2,000 feet above 
sea level, and at least 65 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. 
In the United States the census shows that in 1880, over 80 
per cent of the grain was grown at an elevation between 500 
and 1,500 feet above sea level. In 1890 the altitudes at which 
wheat was raised varied from 100 feet below sea level to over 
10,000 feet above sea level, and about 70 per cent was raised 
between 500 and 1,500 feet elevation. It cannot be raised 
successfully at great elevations in England. The plains and 
mountain slopes of Sicily prodi;ce wheat, the upper limit of 
its growth having been given in 1863 as 2,500 feet in altitude. 

A member of the Manitoba legislature, Mr. Burrows, has 
claimed that fifteen years of history show that altitudes have 
vei*y much to do with summer frosts, and that 800 to 1,300 
feet above sea level is the best altitude for No. 1 hard wheat 
in Manitoba. Perhaps the greatest elevation at which wheat 



6 THE BOOK OF WHEAT. 

has been raised is in Asia on the Himalaya mountains, 11,000 
feet above sea level. The four counties of Kansas occupying 
the center of its famous wheat region have an average eleva- 
tion of about 1600 feet. The Colorado station has developed a 
type of Avheat adapted to the higher altitudes of the mountain 
regions, those of 6,000 to 9,000 feet elevation. 

Historical and Geographical. — In the western half of Asia, in 
Europe, and in northern Africa, wheat has since time im- 
memorial occupied the first rank of eei'eals. It was one of 
the main crops of the Israelites in Canaan. None was grown 
in the New World before the sixteenth century. Humboldt 
says that a negro slave of Cortez found three or four grains of 
wheat in the rice which served to maintain the Spanish army. 
This was apparently sown before 1530, about the date when 
the Spaniards introduced wheat culture into Mexico. In 1547 
wheat bread was hardly known in Cuzco, Peru. The first 
wheat sown in the United States was by Gosnold in 1602 on 
the Elizabeth Islands off the southern coast of Massachusetts. 
It was first cultivated in Virginia in 1611, and in New Nether- 
lands before 1622. By 1648 there were several hundred acres 
in the Virginia colony. Missionaries first introduced it into 
California in 1769. Cuba saw its cultivation at least as early 
as 1808. It must have been early introduced into Canada, at 
least by the close of the eighteenth century, for in 1827 Canada 
raised ovar twenty million bushels. The first wheat success- 
fully grown and harvested in the Red river valley was in 1820, 
Victoria wheat, which had been acclimated by growing 200 
years in the tropics, was successfully grown in experiments on 
Jamaica and the Bahama Islands, 1834 to 1836. There was a 
prejudice against it, however, and Indian corn was grown in 
preference. Minnesota's first settlements date back to about 
1845. Wheat raising became a regular branch of farming in 
Argentina in 1882. Such were the historical beginnings of 
the wheat industry in the western hemisphere. It has now 
become a moi-e or less important industry over practically all 
of America lying outside of frigid zone climates. 

IMPORTAKCE. 

Quantitative. — Both in the quantity produced and in its value, 
wheat is the world's king of cereals. Recent statistics show, 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 7 

however, that 800,000,000 persons, or 54 per cent of the in- 
habitants of the globe, derive their sustenance mainly from 
rice. The most important cereal produced in the United 
States, measured in bushels or dollars, is corn, and wheat 
stands second. From the census we find that the United 
States produced in 1899, including- fann animals and their 
products, an aggregate value of nearly five billion dollars. Of 
this, animals brought 900 millions, corn 828, and wheat 370, 
over 7.4 per cent. In 1906 the corresponding figures for corn 
and wheat were 1,100 and 450. For at least several decades, 
corn has fomied over 50 per cent of the total acreage of 
cereals in the United States. Wheat formed 29.8 per cent in 
1880, 23.9 per cent in 1890, 28.4 per cent in 1900, and 27 per 
cent in 1905. In value, corn fonned 55.8 per cent in 1900, and 
wheat 24.9 per cent. Cereals form 51 per cent of the value of 
all crops, w^hich gives the value of wheat as nearly 13 per cent 
of that of all crops. Out of a total of over 5.5 million farms 
in the United States, over two million raise Avheat. The 
world's annual production and consumption of wheat is near- 
ly 3.5 billion bushels. 

Qualitative. — Taking the civilized world as a whole, w^heat 
foiTns the principal food of man. It is much more widely 
distributed than either its commercial rival, corn, or its rival 
food cereal, rice. It is a prime necessity of civilized life. 
The quantity of wheat milled is larger than that of all other 
cereals combined. Sixty-two per cent of all cereal products 
milled in the United States during 1900 w'ere from wheat. It is 
essentially a bread cereal. Bananas, rice, potatoes, and other 
soil products Avill sustain a greater population on a given unit 
of land than wheat will, but they are not so well adapted to a 
high standard of living. Hei'ein lies the present and increas- 
ingly great importance of wheat, for it seems to be the ten- 
dency of the civilized world to raise its standard of living. As 
the standard of living rises, wheat becomes a relatively more 
important part of human food. Rye and oats furnished the 
bread of the great body of people in Europe during the middle 
ages. Wheat was high-priced and not extensively grown. 
England early became a wheat eating nation. France and 



8 TllK HOOK OF WtlEAT. 

the other Latin countries followed later. Ryo is still exten- 
sively used in Germany, but is cjradually beinj^ superseded by 
wheat. Even Russia is using more wheat Hour tiian she did 
twenty years ago. 

The great intrinsic food value of wheat; its ease of cultiva- 
tion and preparation for use; its wide adaptation to different 
climates and soils; its quick and bountiful return; and the 
fact of its being paniferous and yielding such a vast number 
and variety of products ai'c all factors tliat enhance the value 
of the wheat grain. Its combined qualitative and quantitative 
importance gives to wheat a great superiority over any other 
cereal, and causes it to be dealt in more extensively upon the 
speculati\'c markets than any other agricultural product. As 
an essential part of the food of civilized man it becomes of an 
importance so vital as to be dominating. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

The Classification of wheat seems always to have been in a 
mori; or less chaotic state. This is especially true of the 
nomenclature of varieties. Nor is the fault to be laid particu- 
larly at the door of science. We have seen that wheat has 
been continiuilly migrating for many centuiies. It is a plant 
that is easily influenced by environment and thei'efore particu- 
larly unstable in type. Since it has always been migrating to 
new environments, a comi)lete change in type often resulted, 
though it was still known by the old name. This is further 
complicated by the fact that the modern art of breeding wheat 
has originated many new varieties. Add to this the fact that 
wheat has been shipj^ed all over the world, not only for 
commercial purposes, but also for seed experiments, and it is 
not suri)rising that the nomenclature of vi),rieties is somewhat 
tangled, that several vaiieties are known by the same name, 
())• tliat one variety may have several names, and may pass for 
s(neral varieties. It is among the most common wheats that 
tlu^ difficulty has been most perplexing. 

Classes and Distribution. — There are several kinds of the 
less common wheats, such as Polish wheat, spelt and durum 
wheat, which have very marked characteristics, and which 
have perhaps not migrated so widely. In si)ite of some con- 
fusion in names, it is generally possil)le to determine to which 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 9 

class they belong. Some of the most common and widely used 
classifications are those based on time of sowing, as spring and 
winter wheat; on fiimness of structure of the grain, as hard 
and soft; on the products for which they are used, as bread 
and macaroni wheats; and on the color of the seed, as red 
and white. As will later be shown, wheat adapts itself to new 
environments so that any one of these classes may be trans- 
formed into any other, and as wheat is raised so widely as to 
embrace practically every kind of environment, these classes 
grade into each other so imperceptibly that even an expert can 
hardly determine to which class a certain wheat may belong. 
An approximate division has, however, been made. Mr. M. A. 




WHEAT DISTRICTS 
SOFT 

semi-hard 
LI] southern 

|\ ni HARD-SPRING 
LAS\ ^.71 HARD-WINTER 



Vi^« DURUM 

L^ IRRIGATED 



DISTRIBUTION OF V^ITEAT VARIETIES IN THE UNITED STATES 



Carleton,' cerealist of the United States department of agri- 
culture, has divided the wheat grown in the United States into 
eight classes, and has shown the distribution of these classes 
by districts in the accompanying map. 

On the north Atlantic coast is the soft wheat district, south 
of the Great Lakes the semi-hard district, and south of these 
two districts is the southern district. The Red river valley is 

1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Veg. Phys. & Path., Bui. 24. 



10 THE BOOK OP WHEAT. 

the center of hard spring wheat, Kansas of hard winter wheat 
and north central Texas of durum wheats. White wheat is 
raised on the Pacific coast. The center of red wheat, not 
shown in this division, is from Kansas to the Red river valley. 
A still more general classification by the same author divides 
the United States crosswise into three divisions of approxi- 
mately equal width, assigning the hard wheats to the northern 
states, the soft wheats to the states of the middle latitudes, 
and the durums to the southern states. About two-thirds of the 
wheat raised in the United States is winter wheat. Nearly 90 
per cent of the wheat grown in Russia is spring wheat. In 
Canada, Manitoba raises spring wheat exclusively, but On- 
tario and Alberta raise some of the winter variety. In Ger- 
many, over 90 per cent of the wheat grown is of the winter 
variety, which is largely grown over southern Europe and on 
the British Isles. Spring wheat was once more generally called 
summer wheat, and winter wheat is often also called fall 
wheat. 

Carleton, on a geographical basis, located groups of varieties 
having special qualities approximately as follows: 

1. Starchy white wheats: Pacific coast and Rocky Moun- 
tain states, Chile, Turkestan, Australia and India 

2. Amber or reddish grained wheats, also starchy: Eastern 
states, western and northern Europe, India, Japan and Aus- 
tralia. 

3. Wheats with excellence of gluten content for making 
bread: Northern and central states of the plains, Canada, 
eastern and southern Russia, Hungary, Roumania and southern 
Argentina. 

4. Wheats resistant to orange leaf rust: Southern Russia, 
Mediterranean and Black Sea regions, and Australia. 

5. Wheats with excellence of gluten content for making 
macaroni: Southern Russia, Algeria, and the Mediterranean 
region in general. 

6. Wheats with stiff straw, which prevents lodging: Pacific 
coast states, Japan, Turkestan, Mediterranean region and Aus- 
tralia. 

7. Wheats with great yielding power (at least in propor- 
tion to size of head) : Pacific coast states, Chile and Tur- 
kestan. 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 11 

8. Non-shattering wheats: Pacific coast states, Chile, Tur- 
kestan, Germany (spelts), and East Russia (emmers). 

9. Wheats of great constancy in fertility: Germany 
(spelts) and southern Europe. 

10. Wheats of early maturity: Japan, Australia and India. 

11. Wheats most resistant to drought and heat: East and 
South Russia, Kirghiz Steppes, Turkestan and southern Medi- 
terranean region. 

12. Wheats most resistant to drought and cold: East 
Russia. 

Species. — There are eight principal types of cultivated 
wheat: Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) ; Polish wheat {Tr. 
polonicum) ; Emmer {Tr. sativum dicoccum) ; Spelt {Tr. sat. 
spelta) ; Club or Square-head wheat {Tr. sat. compactum) ; Pou- 
lard wheat {Tr. sat. turgidum) ; Durum wheat {Tr. sat. durum) ; 
and Common wheat {Tr. sat. vulgare). 

Varieties. — In 1900, after five years of experimentation with 
about 1,000 varieties of wheat collected from the different 
wheat countries of the world, the United States department of 
agriculture decided that, tested by American conditions, thei-e 
were 245 leading varieties. No one variety is best under all 
conditions, but climate, soil, and the purpose for which wheat 
is raised must in each ease determine which variety is most 
profitable. If a variety can be secured that will yield moi"e 
under the same conditions than other varieties do, then profits 
can be easily increased, for its production involves no additional 
expense, except possibly an extra outlay for seed. Prof. W. M. 
Hays estimates that Minnesota No. 169, a variety of wheat in- 
troduced by the Minnesota experiment station, has increased 
the yield of that state from 5 to 10 per cent. 

The most widely and universally grown varieties of wheat in 
the United States are Fultz for soft winter, Turkey Red for 
hard winter, Fife and Blue Stem for hard spring, and Kubanka 
for durum wheat. 

DESCRIPTION AND GROWTH. 

Roots. — The first root appearing is called the radicle. This 
and the two other roots that soon appear fonn the whorl of 
three seminal or temporary roots. The crown of roots usually 




ROOT SYSTEM OF A WHEAT PLANT AT HEAUING-OUT TIME 



THE WHEAT GEAIN AND PLANT 13 

grows about an inch beneath the soil, irrespective of the depth 
to which the grain was planted. From the crown are thrown 
out whorls of coronal or permanent roots. Any node of the 
wheat stalk under or near the soil may also throw out a 
whorl of permanent roots, somewhat similar to those of corn. 
There are four or five whoi'ls with three to five roots each. 
The roots from the base of the crown strike directly down- 
ward, while those from the later whorls run at an angle for a 
few inches before taking a vertical direction. Most of the 
main roots penetrate to a depth of over 4 feet, perhaps 5 or 6 
feet, provided the water-line is not closer to the surface than 
that distance, for below this the roots will not enter to any ap- 
pieciable extent. Tlie roots of wheat have been traced to a 
depth of 7 feet, and it has been found that if those of one 
plant were placed end to end they would reach 1,704 feet. 
The deep roots are all fine thi^eads of practically unifoi*m diam- 
eter throughout their entire length. They branch and re- 
branch freely to a depth of 18 or 20 inches, about eight branch 
roots occurring to an inch length of a main root. At a greater 
depth, branches are few or absent, and it is supposed that the 
deep roots are for securing moisture. The roots do not branch 
or feed much in the region just below that stirred by the 
plow, if that region is hard and gummy, as is often the case. 
The upper whoi4s give forth roots that are larger and coarser, 
and which resemble the brace roots in corn. It is said that 
the roots extend chiefly at their extremities, while the stem 
elongates equally, or nearly so, in all of its contiguous parts. 
The root development seems to be greatest in durum wheats. 
Early spring and summer rains cause shallow rooting. In the"^ 
absence of these rains in the far west, a deeper root system, ; 
capable of resisting superficial droughts, is developed. Poor 
soil causes the roots to age rapidly. 

Culms. — The culms of wheat are usually hollow, but in some 
varieties they are quite filled with pith. The length varies 
greatly in different varieties, soils and seasons, a fact which 
results in greater variation in size and yield of straw than of 
grain. Common wheat averages from three to five feet in 
height. The liability of lodging depends greatly on the culm, 
the length of which is also important in harvesting. 

' Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), p. 27. 



14 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Leaves. — When the internodes lengthen and the spike pushes 
upward, the wheat is said to shoot. Previous to this, the 
nodes are so close together that the plant seems to consist al- 
most entirely of leaves. There are four principal parts to the 
leaf : The blade ; the sheath, which clasps the stem and is split 
down the side opposite the blade; the ligule, also clasping the 
culm, and located where the blade and sheath join; and the 
leaf auricle, thin projections growing from the base of the 
blade. The first leaves of the wheat plant and the germ whorl of 
roots do not live through the winter in some varieties. 

The Flower of Wheat is constituted collectively of the or- 
gans of reproduction, together with the two inclosing chaffy 
parts. The inner of these two parts is 
known as a palea, while the outer and 
lower one is the flowering glume. The 
latter often bears a long appendage, 
characteristic of bearded wheat. These 
awns or beards vary greatly in length 
even in the same spike, and in some 
varieties are deciduous upon ripening. 
Their color varies from light yellow 
= ." . to black. 

wheatTXOTary%, and'^stil" The Splkelets. — Each consists of from 
rthe^'mel^tfnfeTfiS^itwo to five flowers encased within two 

ering; c, flower before open- hard oval chaffy coverings called outer 
ing, a, anthers, /, filament, , ^ "^ ° , , , 

i, lodleule ; Z), flower about glumes. in common wheat each 

to open. spikelet generally matures two, and 

sometimes three, grains. The glumes vary greatly in form, 
color and size. The stem or rachis of the spike is of a 
zigzag foiTH. On each of its joints or shoulders sits a single 
spikelet, attached by an exceedingly short raehilla. Arranged 
alternately on the stem, with flat sides toward the center, the 
spikelets usually give the head of wheat a square appearance 
when viewed endwise. Viewed from the side, the spike may 
be straight or curved; it may have uniform sides, or taper 
toward both ends, or only toward base or apex; or it may be 
clubbed at either end. The filling of the spikelets has much to 
do with the appearance of the spike, which varies much in 
different varieties. There is also gi-eat variation in compact- 
ness. Fifteen to twenty fertile spikelets, containing from 30 




THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 



15 



to 50 grains, are usually formed on a spike of wheat, the aver- 
age length of which is between 3 and 4 inches. Humboldt said 
that in Mexico each spike of wheat averaged 90 grains, though 
some had as many as 160. Mummy wheat has been observed 
with ears containing nearly a dozen branches. There are 150 
grains in one ear, and as many as 60 ears from one seed. 
Wheat has the advantage of extreme diminution of the number 
of seeds to each flower, giving richness in starch and gluten, 
combined with the advantage of numerous flowers on each 
plant, giving many seeds. 

The Wheat Kernel is a dry, indehiscent, unilocular caryopsis. 
It is oval in shape, and has the appearance of being folded up- 
on itself from two sides. A ventral crease marks the coming 
together of the two folds. At the base 
of the berry opposite the crease is 
found the embryo, germ, or chit. At the 
apex is a collection of minute hairs. The 
entire grain fills from 20 to 30 cubic 
millimeters of space, of which at least 
thirteen-fourteenths are occupied with 
the starchy endosperm. The latter al- 
most surrounds the embryo, and its cells 
are very irregularly shaped. The em- 
bryo is composed of the absorbent organ 
(scutellum), and the miniature first 
leaves and roots. It forms about 6 per 
cent of the wheat kernel. 

The endosperm and embryo are com- „<^|^*.'n,f,,,^s^5.^eh^S^ 
rletely enclosed by a single layer of gluten cells • d, inner coat of 
, 11 m • bran; e, colornig matter of 

aleurone or gluten cells. The weight of bran ;/ and ^, outer coats of 
.1-1 • o I. i? J.1 i. i> ii bran; /i, epidermis of kernel, 

this layer is 8 per cent of that of the ' ' ^ 

whole grain. The next covering is a single layer of collapsed 
cells, known as the tegmen. This is again surrounded by a 
third envelope, the testa, or episperm, which contains the 
greater part of the coloring matter of the grain. This coloring 
matter is of two kinds, one a palish yellow, and the other an 
orange yellow, and the degree in which one or the other pre- 
dominates deteiTnines whether the wheat is known as white, 
yellow or red. The three layers just described constitute the 
envelope of the seed proper. They in turn are again inclosed 




16 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



^^^C 

^m 



by the pericarp, which is also composed of three layers, all 
colorless. The exterior of these three membranes, the cuticle, is 
easily removed by rubbing. Then come two layers of cellular 
tissue, the epicarp (from which spring the hairs above men- 
tioned) and the endocarp. The tegmen and testa form about 2 
per cent of the weight of the grain, and the pericarp forms 
fully 3 per cent. Thus the bran forms at least 13 per cent of 
the grain. 

Germination. — The three conditions essential to the germin- 
ation of wheat are moisture, warmtli and oxygen. In the ab- 
sence of any one 
of these the 
process will not 
begin, or if it has 
begun it will 
cease. Johnson de- 
fines the period 
of germination as 
lasting from the 
time when the 

rootlet becomes 
Cross section of gi'ain of wheat on the left. (From ,.• :i,i„ nnfii +i a 
micro-photograpli hy Tolnian.) Transverse section, ^isiuie uniii lue 
on the right, of an unripe grain enlarged about KiO stores of the 
times fronitl rawing by Bessey. 1, ovary wall or peri- 
carp; 2, outer integument; 3, inner integument; 4, mother seed are 
remains of nucellus ; 5, aleurone cells ; 6, starch cells. 

exhausted and the 

young plant is wholly cast upon its own resources. At 41° F., 
the time required for the rootlet to appear in wheat is about six 
days, which time corresponds to the more general idea of the 
period of germination. At 51° this time is shortened about 
one-half. The time required for the completion of germination 
is 40 to 45 days at 41 to 55° and 10 to 12 days at 95 to 100°. 
The lowest temperature at which Avheat will germinate is 41°, 
the highest 104°, and that of most rapid germination, 84°. 
This is according to Johnson. Other authorities claim 
that wheat Avill germinate and grow on melting ice. 
It has also been said that it does not germinate suc- 
cessfully at a high temperature, and consequently should not 
be sown until cool weather in southei-n climates. Dissolved 
salts seem to aid germination under ordinaiy field conditions. 
In germinating, wheat absorbs from five to six times its 





THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 



17 



weight of water. It loses 1.5 per cent of its own weight in 24 
hours, 6.7 per cent in 90 hours, and 11.8 per cent in 144 hours. 
Besides the loss in weight, marked chemical changes take place 
Avhich greatly decrease its value for bread baking purposes, 
and probably also as a food for stock. Great loss may thus be 
occasioned by the sprouting of wheat in field, shock, stack or 
bin. Experiments indicate that sprouted wheat will regermi- 
nate and form healthy sprouts until the stem (plumule) has 
reached a length of %-ineh in the first germination, and an 
average of 80 per cent of all sprouted wheat with the length 
of the stem not exceeding i^-inch will again germinate.* 

Stooling or Tillering. — Wheat, like other cereals, has the 
characteristic of throwing out side shoots after the plumule 
lias appeared above the surface. These branches or culms may 
form at any node covered with soil. The num- 
ber of such stalks from one seed varies much 
with conditions. There are usually at least six, 
but there may be from tw^o to several dozen 
in extreme cases, 52 spikes having been ob- 
served. As a rule, the more favorable the con- 
ditions for plant growth, and the thinner the 
Avheat is on the ground, the more it tillers. 
Cool weather during early development may re- 
sult in a long period of subsequent gi'owth 
Avhich encourages tillering. Time of seeding , 
also has great influence, for late sown wheat 
may not have time to stool. The habit varies 
quite materially in different varieties. While 
thinner sown wheat may tiller more, a greater 
amount of seed per acre often increases the t1h> 'i^Ums'arT'frfmi 
yield, even though there are fewer stools. ^/Yi'^gie seed origi- 
Pliny is said to have declared that it was not 
uncommon in northern Africa and in Italy to find from 200 to 
400 stalks of wheat growing fi'om a single kernel. Humboldt 
put on record that in Mexico each grain of wheat produced 40 
to 70 stalks. It is probable that each of these men was seeing 
with the eyes of an enthusiast. 

The Growth of a Wheat Plant is the aggregate result of the 
enlargement and multiplication of the cells which comprise it. 
1 Kept. N. D. Sta., 1001, p. 107. 




18 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Generally cells reach their full size in a brief time, and con- 
tinuous growth depends mainly upon the constant and rapid 
formation of new cells. The essentials to growth are light, 
air, moisture, heat and food. In the absence of any one of 
these, the plant dies, and in their disproportionate combina- 
tion, growth is sickly. In germination, food is furnished by 
the seed, and light is not essential. Over light man has no 
control. He can increase the amount of air that has access to 
the plant by loosening the soil around its roots. An adaptive 
control of heat is exei'cised by sowing during the wann season. 
By selecting soils, fertilizing and changing existing foods from 
unavailable to available forms, food can in a great measure be 
regulated, and water, acting as a solvent and vehicle, can be 
very largely regulated as to amount by drainage and irrigation. 
That the growth and multiplication of cells involves a migra- 
tion of material within the plant has long been recognized. In 
wheat, as in many other plants, there is a comparatively large 
development of roots soon after the first leaves appear. Only 
some low-lying leaves are put forth while the great complex of 
roots is being formed. In a wheat plant only 23 days old, the 
roots bad penetrated the soil over 1 foot in depth. When the 
system of roots has been formed, the stalk suddenly shoots up 
almost to mature stature. Perhaps the roots are completely 
developed by the time that the foimation of grain has begun. 
The leaves of the wheat plant, with their chlorophyl cells, 
have been considered as little laboratories elaborating vege- 
table matter. Under the influence of light they are able to 
extract carbonic acid from the atmosphere. This acid is one 
of the raw materials of these little factories. They decompose 
it, eliminate the oxygen, and from the residue they manufacture 
sugar, cellulose, straw-gum, vasculose, and all the ternary mat- 
ters composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. A perfect sys- 
tem of canals penetrates every part of the plant. These 
canals are filled with water, which enters at the roots, for 
leaves do not absorb water to any appreciable extent, and is 
in constant motion until it is exhaled from the leaves. During 
one hour of insolation a leaf of wheat exhales an amount of 
water equal to its own weight. Upon these highways of 
moving water are borne raw materials destined for the little 
cell factories, such as nitrates, phosphoric acid, potash and 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 19 

silica. They, too, are reduced. If there is an abundance of 
rain, the cells continue work long, elaborate much vegetable 
matter, and the plant grows. 

If the water supply is insufficient and the soil parsimonious, 
this prodigious consumption cannot be supplied, and dessication 
of organs takes place. This begins in the oldest leaves, and 
nearly always the little leaves at the base of the stem become 
soft, flabby, and withered. Analyses have been made which 
show that these leaves let escape some nitrogenized matter, 
phosphoric acid and potash, which they contained when living, 
green and turgescent. Thus the closing of one of these groups 
of little cell factories by the dessication of a leaf is a very 
important process to the plant, for less vegetable matter is 
elaborated than if it had continued its work. In dry years a 
shortening of the stems and a comparatively small amount 
of straw results. 

The dying of leaves involves not only the closing of these 
workshops, but the transportation of much of the finished 
product stored in them. Metamorphosis of the nitrogenized 
matter which fonns the protoplasm, the living part of the 
cell, takes place, and it assumes an itinerant property which 
enables it to pass through membranous walls and migrate 
over the liquid highways to new leaves. With it are carried 
phosphoric acid and potash. Some of the elaborated material 
is thus continually being transported from lower to upper 
leaves during the entire period of vegetation. Flowering takes 
place when enough material has been elaborated to nourish the 
appearing seeds. This migration of substance can take place 
only when there is plenty of water, and the crop fails when it 
is too dry. Too much water is also injurious, for it causes a 
tendency to keep up growth indefinitely. The Minnesota sta- 
tion found that the wheat plant produced nearly one-half its 
dry and three-fourths its mineral matter by the end of 50 
days. This included 75 per cent of the potash, 80 per cent 
of the phosphoric acid, and 86 per cent of the nitrogen. At 
65 days, 65 per cent of dry and 85 per cent of mineral mat- 
ter had been produced, as well as most of the fiber, which suf- 
fered a loss after 81 days.* Compared with the processes ob- 
served in nitrogenized matter, phosphorus and potash, the 
1 Minn. Bui. 29. pp. 152-160. 



20 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

formation of starch is yet quite a mystery. Its accumulation 
in the leaves cannot be detected in wheat as it can be in a 
large number of other species. Neither are reserves of sac- 
charine matters to be found there. It is not until the last 
stage of vegetation that starch is formed. Consequently cli- 
matic influences at the close of the growing period have a 
marked effect on the amount of starch produced, and cause it 
to vary greatly from year to year. 

The process of transporting elaborated material begins in 
the planted seed, and does not cease until the wheat is dead 
ripe. This is the explanation of wheat ripening after it is 
cut. It also explains the fact that wheat straw, as well as 
many other straws, is not as well liked by animals, and is not 
as nutritious, after it is ripe as when green, or when cut before 
ripe. 

Pertilization. — The one-seeded ovulai-y is a little greenish 
swelling. It is surmounted by the stigmas, two erect and ad- 
jacent aigrettes of plumes. There are three stamens, and the 
anthers are compactly arranged about the ovulary. At flower- 
ing the filaments to which the anthers are attached elongate- 
rapidly. As the anthei's are pushed upward, they suddenly 
overturn, and the pollen falls upon the stigmas, which have 




w 

•4-40 AM 4-43A.M. 4-4SAM '^~*7AM. 4-5SAM S-OflAW. S-I5AlM. 5-18 AM 

THE OPENING OF THE FLOWERS OF WHEAT. (AFTER HAYS) 

now groAv slightly divergent. These delicate operations all 
take place within the closed flower and generally wheat is thus 
essentially self-fertilized. The anthers are now pushed out- 
side of the glumes, and the wheat is popularly said to be in 
flower. As soon as the pollen comes in contact with the 
stigmas, it germinates by sending out a long tube (called the 
pollinic branch) into the ovulary. This completes fertilization 
and the grain is formed. If fertilization in incomplete, the 
ovularies remain unfertilized, and the spikes bear sterile flowers 
in which no kernels are formed. It seems that the crop is thus 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 21 

injured wlien fertilization takes place in rainy weather. The 
Avater probably finds its Avay within the involucre, and the 
pollen grains are either imperfectly retained, or their germi- 
nation is irregular. The process of fertilization generally oc- 
curs early in the morning, and may requirK|ess than an hour 
of time. After its completion the ovule (seed) grows very 
rapidly to maturity. The embryo develops first, and then the 
endosperm. 

The Most Favorable Ripening of wheat requires a mild tem- 
perature and a slightly clouded sky. A high temperature the 
month before wheat is ripe diminishes the yield, and in partic- 
ular prevents the formation of starch. There is a real, though 
small, loss in wheat from the period when it is ''ripe" to the 
time when it is dead ripe, and it is claimed that this loss does 
not result from careless handling, or from drying of the grain.^ 
Deherain offers the explanation that ''all the organs of a 
plant respire by the aid of the oxygen of the air consuming 
some of their principles. In the seed the combustion chiefly 
affects the starch, and a crop Avhich remains standing long 
diminishes in weight both by the loss of seeds that fall and by 
the slow combustion which continues as long as desiccation is 
not produced." What is lost in quantity, however, is perhaps 
more than gained in quality, for the best flour can be obtained 
from dead ripe wheat only. Such flour has a better color, and 
will take more water in bread-making. If the grain is cut be- 
fore ripe, the most serious feature is increased acidity in the 
flour. This interferes with fermentation in bread-making, and 
is liable to make the bread sour or dark. 

The Rate of Multiplication of Wheat. — Paley gave 300 grains 
harvested from one grain sown as a moderate estimate; 400 as 
a possible one; and 10 to 12 as a practical one. Herodotus 
said that on the irrigated land of Assyria, Avheat yielded from 
two to three hundred fold, and grew to giant size. Fifty 
grains of Avheat, selected from one spike, were planted, and 
the 30 grains which grew produced 14% ounces of wheat. 
This was sown the next year, and produced 5 pecks of grain, 
which in turn produced 45 bushels the subsequent year. The 
45 bushels produced 537 bushels in another year, enough seed 

' Kedzie, Rept. Mich. Board Agr., 1881-2, p. 337; Mich. Bui. 191, 
p. 160; Neb. Bui. 32, p. 97. 



22 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

from one spike in fonr years to sow about 500 aeres.^ In ten 
years, one grain of North Dakota wheat, now known as Minne- 
sota 163, Avithout any attempt to increase it rapidly the first 
few years, actually produced about 300,000 bushels of wheat. 
One thousand acres of land south of Walla Walla in eastern 
Washington yielded 51,000 bushels in 1881. "This yield was 
made the subject of a careful measurement and reiwrted to the 
Agricultural Department, where it stands today as the largest 
yield for a thousand-acre field ever reported."' The greatest 
wheat crop ever recorded in the world's history as being pro- 
duced from unfertilized land was that of western Canada in 
1901, where 63,425,000 bushels were harvested from a little 
aver 2,500,000 acres; an average yield of over 25 bushels per 
acre. 

Physical Properties. — The number of grains in a pound of 
wheat varies from 7,500 to 21,000; from 377 determinations 
the average was 12,000 grains. The number in a bushel has 
been given as varying from 446,580 to 971,940. The Winches- 
ter bushel (2150.42 cubic inches) used in the United States, has 
a standard and legal weight of 60 pounds. The measured 
bushel generally varies in weight from 54 to 65 pounds, and 
greater extremes occur. The Imperial bushel (2218.192 cubic 
inches) used in England, has a corresponding weight of 61.89 
pounds. This is the reason why English wheat appears heavier 
than American grain. 

The specific gravity of American wheat has been found to 
vary from 1.146 to 1.518. Lyon found high specific gravity 
associated with low nitrogen content. As a rule, the harder 
the grain, the higlier is the gluten and nitrogen content, and 
the deeper red the color. 

Viability of Wheat. — Experiments have shown the optimum 
jieriod for germination to be the second year after harvest. 
Seed one year old often gives better results than fresh seed, 
but after the first year the viability generally diminishes rapidly 
from year to year. Ordinarily it is not advisable to sow wheat 
over two, or at the most three, years of age, at least not Avith- 
out testing its genuinating powers, which have been found to 
vary from 15 to 75 per cent after five years. The longest 

1 Neb. Bui. 32, p. 84. 

- RciJt. Bureau of Statistics, Washington, 1903, p. 69. 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 23 

period for which conclusive modern scientific experiments have 
shown wheat to be viable is ten years. During six successive 
years Saunders found the average viability of three varieties 
to be respectively: 80, 82, 77, 37, 15 and 6 per cent.^ Varro, 
speaking of the granaries of the first century B. C, remarks 
that the vitality of Avheat can be preserved in them for 50 
years. Daubeny questioned this in 1857, and stated that wheat 
does not retain its vitality over 40 years. Humboldt states 
that for causes not well known, Mexican grain is preserved with 
ditficulty for more than two or three years. The reported 
germination of wheat taken from Egyptian mummies thou- 
sands of years old is a modern myth originating in the im- 
positions of fraud and cunning upon credulity. 

The highest temperature at which dry wheat seed can re- 
tain its vitality is also an unsettled question. Chambers's Cyclo- 
pedia makes the statement that some dry seeds survive 212 ° F., 
and — 248° F., but does not state what kind. Klippart gives 
— 58° F. as the point at which wheat loses its vitality, and says 
that the geraiinating power is completely destroyed if the grain 
is steeped 15 minutes in water having a temperature of 122° F. 
According to the same writer, it could perhaps stand 170° F. 
in a diy atmosphere witliout serious injury. He gives this as 
a probable reason Avhy wheat does not grow in the tropics, 
where the soil often has a temperature of 190° F. Recent ex- 
perience has shown that steeping Avheat ten minutes in water 
of 132 to 133° F. to kill smut germs does not injure its via- 
bility. In northern Canada, — 52° F, has no injurious effect 
upon the vitality of dry and unplanted wheat. Beyond these 
temperatures, no scientific experiments have been found recorl- 
cd by the author. 

Time Required for Ripening. — The mean temperature required 
for the successful cultivation and ripening of wheat has been 
given as 65° F. for 45 to 60 days, and 55° F. for three or four 
months of the growing season. Of the wheat in the United 
States, according to the census of 1880, 67.5 per cent was 
grown where the mean annual temperature was between 45 and 
55° F., and 62.7 per cent of it where the annual rainfall was 
between 35 and 50 inches. It has been claimed that the total 
amount of sunshine and heat units required to mature a crop 
^ Kept. Can. Exp. Farms, 1903, p. 44. 



24 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



of wheat is the same for all latitudes, and that if these vary, 
the period of growth will vary in inverse proportion. In sup- 
port of this position Cooke* collected the statistics given 
below. 



Locality 


Period of 
Growth 


Mean 

Temperature 

of growing 

Period 


Heat 

Units 


Near Poona (India) 

At Alsace (S. France) . . . . 


115 days 
137 " 
160 " 
182 " 


74.0 degrees 

59.0 

56.0 " 

47.5 " 


8,510 
8 083 


Near Paris (N. France) 

Near Edinburg (Scotland) 


8,950 
8,645 



Cooke found the number of heat units required to be ap- 
proximately the same for different countries, i. e., about 8,500. 
Experiments conducted at Fargo, N. D., to verify this failed of 
their purpose, and gave approximately 6,500 heat units. The 
period of growth was about 100 days. Recent observations 
have shown that the number of heat units decreases when the 
growing' period shortens. In general, the growing period is 
shortest in the coldest climate. 

The Weight of Different Materials entering into an acre of 
the wheat crop is shown in the table given below. All weights 
are in pounds. The grain and straw are given as air dry ma- 
terial, which contains about 15 per cent of water. 



WEIGHT OF MATERIALS IIST AN ACRE OF WHEAT. 



Total of potash phos- 
phoric acid& nitro'n 

Potash 

Phosphoric acid 

Nitrogen 

Water evaporated.... 

Weight of grain 

Weight of straw 



Average 
U.S. 
Crop" 


M..nt2 


Canada^ 


6,600 

lb. 

Crop* 


Grain 

of 6,600 

lb. 

Crop 




52.61 

13.69 

9.49 

29.73 

"840 
1,680 


77.28 
19.11 
17.64 
40.53 
600,000 
1,440 
2,200 


122.67 
40.17 
26.85 
55.65 

i'.sbo 

5,100 


50.25 

8.55 

14.10 

27.60 








522,000 

720 

1,500 



Straw 

of 6 600 

lb. 

Crop 



72.42 
31.62 
12.75 
28.05 



1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1894, p. 174. 
- Kept. Mont. Exp. Sta., 1902, p. 61. 
3 Evidence of Saunders, 1900, p. 23. 

* Neb. Bui. 19. p. 15. 

* N. D. BuL 47, p. 704. 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 



25 



Chemistry. — The five outer layers of the wheat grain are 
composed chiefly of cellulose, a woody, fibrous substance. The 
endosperm, the food part of the grain, contains large quantities 
of starch, a nitrogenous substance known as gluten, a little 
sugar, and the cellulose of its cell walls. The gluten content 
is greatest at the hard exterior of the endosperm. The softer 
center makes better flour, however, for it remains freer from 
the bran in the grinding. The germ is composed of cellulose, 
nitrogenous substances, and about 10 per cent of fat. 

The following table gives in per cents of the entire weight 
the comparison of different kinds and commercial grades of 
wheat, and of wheat straw and chaff. 

EOMPARISONS OP GRADES OP WHEAT, WHEAT STRAW AND CHAPP. 



Kind of Wheat 



310 Amer wheats, min' 

310 Amer wheats, max' 

310 Amer wheats, aver' 

Amer No. 1 hard^ 

Amer No 1 northern^ 

Amer No 2 northern^ 

Amer No 3 northern^ 

Minn No 1633 

Rysting's Fife-' 

B^olton's Blue Stem^ 

Kubanka (durum wheat)^.... 

Winter wheat, grain* 

Canada common wheat^ 

Indian wheat, aver* 

Emmer kernels alone' 

Emmer kernels and chaff'... 

Emmer chaff alone 

7 Amer wheat straws, min'. 
7 Amer wheat .straws, max' 
7 Amer wheat straws, aver' 

Winter wheat, straw* 

Winter wheat, chaff* 

Durum wheat bran* 

Durum wheat shorts^ 

Common wheat bran* 

Common wheat shorts* 











Nitro- 


Water 


Ash 


Pro- 


Crude 


gen 






tein 


Fiber 


free 
extract 


7.1 


0.8 


8.1 


0.4 


64.8 


14.0 


3.6 


17.2 


3.1 


78.6 


10.5 


1.8 


11.9 


1.8 


71.9 




1.8 


17.2 


2.4 


76.3 




2.2 


17.9 


3.4 


74.0 




2.2 


18.3 


3.2 


73.9 




2.4 


20.7 


3.2 


71.3 


7.9 


2.2 


20.3 


2.3 


65.2 


10.3 


1.9 


17.3 


2.5 


65.3 


9.3 


2.0 


16.6 


2.5 


67.2 


16.5 


2.2 


18.9 


2.5 


57.3 


14.4 


2.0 


13.0 


3.0 


67.6 


10.9 


1.4 


12.8 


2.0 


70.4 


12.5 


1.7 


13.5 


2.7 


68.4 


10.5 


1.7 


13.2 


2.6 


69.4 


9.5 


3.6 


10.7 


10.8 


62.9 


6.4 


10.5 


2.6 


37.9 


41.1 


6.5 


3.0 


2.9 


34.3 


31.0 


17.9 


7.0 


5.0 


42.7 


50.6 


9.6 


4.2 


3.4 


38.1 


43.4 


14.3 


5.5 


2.0 


48.0 


30.2 


14.3 


12.0 


4.5 


36.0 


33.2 


10.9 


5.3 


12.3 


10.8 


54.9 


10.4 


4.1 


14.4 


6.1 


59.2 


11.5 


5.4 


16.1 


8.0 


54.5 


11.8 


4.6 


14.9 


7.4 


56.8 



Fat 



1.3 
3.9 
2.1 
2.4 
2.5 
2.3 
2.4 
2.1 
2.8 
2.3 
2.7 
1.5 
2.5 
1.2 
2.8 
2.5 
1.6 
0.8 
1.8 
1.3 
l.S 
1.4 
5.9 
5.9 
4.5 
4.5 



^ U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Exp. Sta., Exp. Sta. Bui. 11, pp. 106-llS. 
- N. D. Bui. 8, p. 6. Average results from many analyses. 
3 Kept. N. D. Exp. Sta., 1903, p. 26. Data from N. D. wheat crop 
of 1901. 

* Johnson, How Crops Grow, pp. 386-387. 

° Kept. Canada Exp. Farms, 1900, p. 182. 1899 crop grown in the 
N. W. Terrs. 

* Church, Pood Grains of India, p. 95. 

' An average from Dak. Stations, U. S. Dept. Agr., Farm Bui. 
139, p. 11. 

<* Rept. N. D. Exp. Sta.. 1904. p. 33 



26 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

The substances of which wheat flour is composed may be di- 
vided into three classes: (1) Nitrogenous, which include main- 
ly gluten, fibrin, albumen, casein, cerealin, and modifications of 
some of these; (2) non-niti'ogenous, embracing sugar and dex- 
trin, but chiefly starch, fat and cellulose; and (3) the minerals, 
for the largest part alkaline phosphates and silicates, espe- 
cially phosphate and silicate of potash. 

Water. — Wheat ordinarily contains from 10 to 15 per cent 
of moisture. Changes in the moisture content of the air cause 
corresponding variations in wheat, and consequently in its 
weight. Usually such fluctuations in weight do not exceed 6 
per cent, but they may be as much as 25 per cent, and an in- 
crease of 9 per cent in 24 hours has been observed. When 
wheat is shipped, especially if it is transported long distances, 
this may be a matter of great commercial importance. Wheat 
transported from the di'y atmosphere of the inland of Cali- 
fornia to ordinary temperate regions will invariably gain from 
5 to 15 per cent in weight. In a voyage from San Francisco 
to Liveipool, the increase in weight due to the moisture ab- 
sorbed en route may be sufficient to pay all expense of transpor- 
tation. Every portion of the wheat grain is so susceptible to 
influence from hydroscopic conditions that all of the products 
of wheat exliibit similar oscillations in weight. Two days 
equalized the moisture content in samples of flour varying from 
less than 8 to over 13 per cent.' 

Ash. — Lawes and Gilbert observed the composition of the 
ash of wheat grown on unraanured ground during 20 years. 
The average results are given in the table below." 

Grain Straw 

Ferric oxide 0.645 0.69 

Lime 3.175 5.075 

Magnesia 10.48 1.525 

Potash 33.345 15.355 

Soda 0.18 0.265 

Pliosphoric anhydride (P'W) 50.065 3.10 

Sulphuric anhvilride (S(V) 1.42 3.84 

Clilorine 0.05 2.13 

Silica 0.655 68.505 



Total 100.015 100.485 

1 Hunt. Cereals in Amer. (1904). p. 38: Mich. Bui. 191, p. 153-164. 
' Hunt. Cereals in Amer. (1904) p. 39. 



THE WHEAT GRAIN AND PLANT 27 

Total 100.015 100.485 

Deduct 0=C1 015 .485 



Total 100.00 100.00 

There is great unifoiinity in the ash constituents of the grain 
of wheat when it is not subject to ii'regularities in ripening, 
and there is but sliglit deviation under normal variations in 
soil composition. 

Protein. — Osborne and Voorhees' recognized and investi- 
gated five proteids. Approximately they form the following 
per cent of the grain: A globulin, 0.65; an albumin, 0.35; a 
proteose, 0.30; gliadin, 4.25; and glutenin, 4.25. Gluten is com- 
posed of several nitrogenous compounds, chiefly gliadin and 
glutenin. Wlieat bread owes its excellence to the peculiar 
properties of gluten, which makes it lighter and more digestible 
than bread made from the other cei'eals. The amount and 
quality of gluten determine the baking qualities of a flour. It 
is now claimed that 55 to 65 per cent of the total gluten should 
be in the form of gliadin. Hard wheats have a higher gluten 
content than soft wheats, and consequently yield better flour. 
Gluten generally foims from 12 to 14 per cent of the wheat 
grain. Dough Avashed with water will retain only the crude 
gluten. A short growing period or a season unfavorable to full 
maturity of the grain increases the amount of protein. The 
nitrogenous compounds are the most desirable part of the 
nourishment found in wheat, but they tend to give a yellowish 
tint to the bread, ''against which fashion rebels," for the 
''unnatural demand of the times" is for a starchy, snow white 
flour. 

Nitrogen Free Extract. — This forms the larger portion of 
both grain and flour, and is composed very largely of starch, 
the amount of which is easily influenced by the irregularity of 
seasons. 

Composition Influenced by Seasons and Fertilizers. — A favor- 
able season seems to give a high weight per bushel, a large per- 
centage of starch, and a low ash and nitrogen content. The 
following table gives the results of the observations of Lawes 
and Gilbert at Rothamsted.^ 

^ Amer. Chem. Jour.. 15:392-471. 

= Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), p. 43. 



28 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 







Grain 


Grain 


Straw 


Nitrogen 


Ash 




Wt. per 


to 


per 


per 


in dry 


(pure) 




bu. lb. 


straw 


acre 


acre 


matter 


in dry 






Per cent 


lb. 


lb. 


Per cent 


mat'r % 


Average of eight fav- 














orable harvests : 














Plat 2 — Farm yard 
















62.6 
60.S 


62. S 
67.4 


2342 
1156 


6089 
2872 


1.73 

1.84 


1.98 


Plat 3 — Unmanu'd 


1.96 


Plat 10a — Ammo- 














nium salts alone.. 


60.4 


66.2 


1967 


4774 


2.09 


1.74 


Average of eight un- 














favorable harv's: 














Plat 2 — Farm yard 
















57.4 
54.3 


54.5 
51.1 


1967 
823 


5574 
2433 


1.96 
1.98 


2.06 


Plat 3 — Unmanu'd 


2.08 


Plat 10a — Ammo- 














nium salts alone. 


53.7 


46.7 


1147 


3601 


2.25 


1.91 



Composition as Affected by Light. — Light is essential for 
the fomiation of proteids. The following table shows the 
effect of differently colored glasses upon the nitrogen and 
albumen content of wheat.^ 



Percentages of 


Black Glass 


Green Glass 


No Glass 




2.54 
15.87 


2.74 
17.12 


2.08 




13.00 







Climate, soil and culture are also all factors that affect the 
chemical composition of wheat. They are treated more fully 
in sulisequent chapters. 

The Composition of Different Commercial Grades of wheat 
shows that the amounts of protein and asli decrease as the grade 
of wheat becomes higher, Avhile the nitrogen free extract in- 
creases. Differences in protein, gluten or gliadin content do 
not seem to be an adequate basis, however, for the commercial 
grading of wheat. The grading seems to be based rather on 
the relative yield of first quality flour. The greater the 
weight of the kernel and the weight per bushel, the higher is 
tlie grade of the wheat. 

Historically there has been little change in the chemical com- 
position of wheat. It seems likely that the wheat of ancient 
Egypt did not differ more in composition from modern wheat 
of the same variety than one sample of modern wheat fre- 
quently differs fi'om another. 
1 Sci. Amer., 93 (1905): 508. 



CHAPTER II. 
IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT. 

INSTITUTIONAL EVOLUTION. 

Early Significance. — The eultiu-e of wheat has perhaps never 
been exclusively the subject of individual effort, but has also 
always been the subject of institutional essay, however vag'ue 
and remote. Since the latter phase of wheat growing became 
scientific in the nineteenth century, it has been fraught with a 
significance of the widest and deepest interest. From an in- 
stitutional point of view, the growers of wheat are not suf- 
ficiently differentiated from the agricultural element of so- 
ciety to warrant a distinctive treatment as a class proper. 
Only by a statement of such characteristics of the agricultural 
class as are apropos for a consideration of the institutional de- 
velopment relevant to the culture of wheat can the subject be 
approached. 

By proverbial repute, the tillers of the soil are, comparatively 
speaking, independent, unprogTessive, non-co-operative, and 
without marked tendency toward organization. Historically, 
they have been the last great class to be brought under a 
progressive regime of societal institutions. There are two main 
causes for this, neither one of which is inherent in the class. 
The first and fundamental cause is that agriculture is an occu- 
pation in nature and conditions such as to require isolation of 
those engaged in it, with comparatively little division of labor 
among them. It is an industry as broad as the land upon 
which it takes place, and admits of no concentration. On the 
other hand, taking the number of people adequately supported 
on a given area as a test, the industry is universally developed 
by a decrease in the size of the holdings of each individual, 
and by the diversification of labor consequent to this decrease. 
The second cause, more remote and less important than the 
first, is that in agriculture the influence of competition is neces- 
sarily indirect, and under certain conditions entirely inopera- 
tive. In civilized life competition in one form or another has 

29 



30 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

always given a great impetus to organization and co-operation. 
In modern agriculture, especially if the farmer owns his land, 
the only point at which the influence of competition can enter 
is in the sale of farm products. 

Other things being equal, a progressive farmer may be able 
to offer his wheat for sale at a price below the cost of produc- 
tion for the unpi-ogressive grower. While this is competition, 
its point of incidence is mainly below the line of subsistence 
for the farmer, and as most farmers are above this line, much 
of the force of competition is lost. When a government guar- 
antees to an individual the ownership of a certain area of land, 
he has a monopoly of that area as long as he raises enough 
produce from it to pay the taxes, or their equivalent, for the 
governmental guarantee, and to keep himself supplied with the 
necessaries of life. If he is unprogressive and isolated in his 
farming, he is quite free to continue so his whole life, and his 
son and his grandson are just as free to follow in his footsteps. 

In the early days tlie farmer looked to better informed 
powers than those of human origin for the solution of difficult 
problems. Wily and insinuating shamans and medicine men 
astutely took a benevolent interest in him by unfolding, in- 
terpreting, and at times even creating, the knowledge and in- 
struction which numei'ous deities dispensed through these, 
their agents, for the benefit of agTicultural mankind. When to 
plow, sow, harvest, and when to sell his crop, were thus made 
manifest to him by the deities whose special business it was 
to know these things. The gifts of rain and sunshine were in 
their hands. They alone were the instrumentalities of fructi- 
fication and bounteous harvests. With the advance of civili- 
zation, however, the deities became less communicative, the 
shaman's magic power waned and became less occult, while his 
usual recompense grew more bui'densome to those who paid it, 
and his functions became differentiated and were gradually as- 
sumed by the botanist, the chemist, the agriculturist, the 
physicist, the miller, the speculator, the instructor, and above 
all, the experimenter. As the paternal concern of the gods 
and medicine inen for the farmer became relaxed, little interest 
was taken in hiin for centuries, and he has never since been the 
object of such profound solicitude from any source. In the 
middle ages and during the conquests of the Goths, Vandals 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 31 

and other barbarians, agriculture in Europe ebbed to the lowest 
degree of respectability. It \^as revived by the Saracens of 
Spain, and by their successors, the Moors, it was carried to a 
height perhaps not surpassed in Europe before the last quarter 
of the nineteenth century. 

While Plato, Socrates and Pliny took an interest in agricul- 
ture, it is claimed that the oldest of writers on husbandry 
whose works have survived is Cato, the Roman Censor (234-149 
B. C). In 1757, Home stated that Virgil and Columella were 
still the best authors on this subject. From the downfall of the 
Roman democracy until the dawn of English history, little was 
written on agriculture. At times it was encouraged in a gen- 
eral way and highly honored, as it always has been in China, 
but usually the farmer was left to work out his own salvation. 
This he did, and successfully, though it required centuries of 
time. He no longer relies for information upon the elucida- 
tions of subtle shamans revealing the will of elusive, evasive, 
and ever vanishing gods, creations of the fancy. In nearly 
every civilized country of the world he is supported by scien- 
tifically grounded institutions. As these are practically the 
scientific foundation of modern wheat raising, especially of 
some of its most recent and interesting phases, they are con- 
sidered of sufficient importance here to be taken up briefly. 

The National Governments of all of the principal wheat 
growing countries of the world are factors in an official capacity 
in the culture of wheat, and at times millions of dollars are 
expended by a single government in endeavoring to solve some 
problem of unusual importance. In the United States, Wash- 
ington in 179G suggested the establishment of a national board 
of agriculture. The first appropriation made by Congress for 
agricultural purposes was in 1839, $1,000. Lincoln approved 
the act which established our National Department of Agricul- 
ture in 1802. Under Cleveland, in 1889, it was raised to an 
Executive Department. 

The development of the department has been surprising, es- 
pecially in recent years. The things most charactei'istic of it 
have been its rapidly increasing magnitude, the study of ques- 
tions most diversified in interests and far-reaching in impor- 
tance, and the thorough, effectual and scientific methods 
employed. As new interests arose, were investigated, and in- 



32 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

creased in importance, they were assignea to a new bureau 
or division especially created for their research. The distribu- 
tion of seeds and plants was begun in 1839. Since that time, 
over 20 divisions and bureaus have been created.^ The impor- 
tance that may be attached to the activities of the department 
is well illustrated by its work with durum wheat. By securing 
its introduction and its use in manufacturing macaroni in the 
United States, tlie department practically established a new 
industry, in addition to extending materially the wheat pro- 
ducing area. 

Experiment Stations. — Liebig in Germany, Boussingault in 
France, and Lawes and Gilbert in England, were the greatest of 
the pioneers who blazed the path subsequently followed by 
the experiment station. The organization of scientific experi- 
mentation with governmental aid dates from 1851. The 
Amei-ican stations are an adaptation of those of Europe to the 
conditions and requirements of this country, but one of their 
characteristic features is extensive co-operation. Their establish- 
ment naturally followed that of the agricultural colleges. In 
1875 the first station in the United States was established at 
Middletown, Conn., for which the credit is due to Orange Judd, 
then editor and proprietor of the American Agriculturist. Sev- 
enteen stations had been established by 1887, when Congress 
passed the Hatch act, the great boon for American stations. 
In 1894, 55 stations were in operation. At some of the sta- 
tions, especially that of Minnesota, new varieties of wheat and 
other cereals have been originated which increase the yield 
several bushels per acre over old varieties under the same con- 
ditions, giving to the farmer a pure gain of millions of bushels. 

Agricultural Institutions of Learning. — The American agri- 
cultural colleges were organized under the land grant act passed 
in 1862, supplemented by an act of 1890. Under the provisions 
of these acts 65 institutions are in operation in the several 
states and territories. The movement for farmers' institutes, 
originating in various farmers' societies, has now become 
national in scope, and during the year ended June 30, 1905, in- 
stitutes were held in nearly all of the states and territories. 

' For a complete account of the department, state experiment 
stations and agricultural colleg-es, see Bulletin 112, Office of Experi- 
ment Stations, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 33 

Economic Position of Wheat G-rowers. — The story of the ag- 
riculture of the wheat area in the middle west of our country 
is the oft repeated one of agriculture in a new country, a fact 
which bespeaks an economic justification. There was but one 
way in which the western pioneer could draw a draft that 
would be honored for the cost of buildings, machinery and 
live stock, and that was to draw it at the expense of the natural 
fertility of the soil. One-crop wheat farming and neglect of 
crop rotation and domestic animals resulted. For over half a 
century, *' Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm," 
was a household phrase. The farm having been obtained, it 
was used and abused in every way that was supposed to yield 
the largest amount of immediate profit, regardless of all other 
considerations. In no other section Avas this so true as in the 
Avheat raising ai'eas. In the meantime, millions of acres of 
fresh land produced more grain than domestic consumption 
could utilize, and for years the very existence of the farmer 
was threatened by 40-cent wheat and 20-cent corn. Lack of 
capital and the hard conditions of frontier life soon resulted 
in debt. Often there was not the wherewithal to pay the high 
interest and to procure the necessaries of life. With the 
twentieth centuiy came a change, a change of such moment and 
speed as to be without parallel in the economic history of 
agriculture. The prosperity of the middle west transformed 
a million agricultural debtors into financially independent 
farmers. Free land, free immigration, and free private enter- 
prise in railroad construction Avere the chief factors that ulti- 
mately led, not only to financial independence, but also to a 
new dignity and to a higher standard of living. With the 
telephone, the daily mail and newspaper, and means for travel- 
ing, a new horizon of comfort surmounts the skyline of the 
farmers' economic strength. This recent era of rural pros- 
perity augurs well for the nation's future. 

IMPROVEMENT. 

Wheat Improvement Proper consists of artificially increasing 
the natural variations of the wheat plant and its environment. 
Historically, it is unknown wliether the plant or the environ- 
ment was first the subject of improvement. The subsequent 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 35 

portion of this chapter is exclusively devoted to the plant, the 
treatment of which naturally comes first. 

Variation. — It has been recognized for at least a century 
that wheat is capable of variations. These may be peculiar to 
the plant itself, and may occur although the environment re- 
mains constant. Variation in this sense became established 
only with the theory of evolution, and refers to those changes 
which tend to become permanent through inheritance. Such 
variations are assumed to be the manifestations of a natural 
tendency inhei'ent to all organic life. 

The theory of common descent for all living beings found 
its first great advocator in Lamark at the beginning of the 
nineteenth century. Fifty years later Darwin assembled enough 
evidence in support of the theory to enable it to gain general 
acceptation. Darwin assumed that the great variation in- 
volved in the theory proceeded in the main by slow and gradual 
changes. He recognized, however, that species may also origi- 
nate in nature by leaps and sports. The theory that all varia- 
tion occui'S by sudden mutations has been held by a minority 
of scientists. Cope and De Vries' are among those who have 
most recently increased the evidence in this direction. A de- 
fence of discontinuous evolution has also been made by various 
other scientists, such as the paleontologist Dollo, the zoologist 
Bateson, and the botanist Korshinsky. In general, it may be 
said that if the followers of Darwin have been open to the 
criticism of under-emphasizing sudden change, the supporters of 
the theory of mutations have certainly erred more widely in the 
opposite extreme. 

Variations may also be induced. In this process two different 
methods may be used, hybridization and change of environ- 
ment. Only those variations which may occur or be induced 
independently of environment are considered in this chapter. 
Others are treated in subsequent chapters. Variations may 
include differences in habit of growth, chemical composition, 
periods of development, appearance, form, yield, prolificacy, 
vigor, hardiness and stability of type. Whatever his concep- 

* An able criticism of the theory of mutations has been made by 
Prof W. P. R. Weldon, "Professor De Vries on the origin of species," 
Biometrika, 1:365, 1902. A study of this theory is interesting in 
conjunction with the more elaborate theory of homotyposis devel- 
oped by Prof Karl Pearson in his work at University College, Eng- 
land, but space forbids a discussion of the matter here. 



36 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

tion of variation may be, the scientific wheat grower utilizes 
the process in two different ways, by the simple process of se- 
lection, or by the compound process of selection, hybridization 
and selection. 

Selection is an unfailing means for the modification of form 
and tendency in organic life. It augTuents the power of valua- 
tion by successively selecting the most marked variations in 
any direction. While conscious selection is a modern process 
which has attained commercial importance at a comparatively 
recent date, there is no doubt of selection having been one of 
the most powerful influences from the very first in developing 
wheat, although men were not aware of its operation. What- 
ever protection or cultivation early man bestowed upon the 
cereal plants was naturally bestowed upon the gi'asses and 
wheats which produced the most food in return, and not upon 
those comparatively less important as food. The very essence 
of the importance attached to wheat has always been its food 
yielding quality. It is a pex'fectly sound inference that those 
A'arieties of Avheat which had this quality in the highest de- 
gree had an advantage which aided them to survive other va- 
rieties. This, however, is only the operation of the prime 
factor of selection, oi", as Darwin calls it, the ''law of the 
preservation of the favorable individual differences and varia- 
tions, and the destruction of those which are injurious." 

Selection and cultivation, in the ordinary sense, were the 
pi'ocesses of domestication. After domestication, varieties con- 
tinue to be pi'opagated in a similar mannei'. The results have 
been attained none the less advantageously and certainly on 
account of the fact that man was unconsciously the selecting 
agent. To this force of artificial selection was added that of 
natural selection in early development, which was a result of 
the coincidence that the quality of wheat as a human food and 
the reproductive functions of the plant were both united in its 
seed. The plant producing the greatest number of seeds was 
most apt to survive, not only because man was most likely to 
give it his fostering care, but also because of the increased 
chances of reproduction. In wheat artificially sown, care 
must be exercised lest this force of natural selection operate 
disadvantageously, for fewer seeds are no longer a disadvantage 
in reproduction. If for any reason, such as being brought to a 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 



37 



new climate, wheat shows an unusual tendency to vary, it 
changes, and if the better yielding plants are crowded out the 
change results in a lower yield. VirgiP mentions selection 
of seed before the time of Christ, and noticed its advantages. 
A Scottish agriculturist, Shireff, made discoveries pertaining 
to the selection of wheat as early as 1819. The Belgian horti- 
culturist, Van Mons, scientifically practiced selection befoi'e 
1835. The works of Le Couteui', the English breeder, show 
tliat selection in wheat was early practiced, but never long 
continued or repeated. One of the early experiments in selec- 
tion of wheat was that of Hallett' in England, begun in 1857. 
He selected the best heads and kernels. The following table 
gives his results. 

EXPERIMENTS IN SELECTION OF WHEAT. 



Year 


Grains 


Length 


No. of 
grains 

47 
79 
91 

123 


No. of 

ears 

on one 

root 


1S57 




4 3-8 inches 

6 1-4 inches 

7 3-4 inches 




1858 




10 


1859 




22 


1860 




39 


1861 




8 3-4 inches 


52 









Thus by means of repeated selection alone, the length of the 
ear was doubled, the number of grains per head was nearly 
trebled, and the tillering power was increased over fivefold. It 
is only within recent years that Avheat experiments of this 
nature have been carried on in America. The most extensive 
and successful of these were begun in 1892 at the Minnesota 
experiment station under the direction of Prof. W. M. Hays. 
From 1891 to 1896 experiments were made in Kansas with 
light, common and heavy seed, and seed from selected heads. 
The light seed unifonnly gave a lower yield, but common seed 
gave the highest yield during three years.' At the Minnesota 
station from 1895 to 1898, No. 169, a wheat selected on prin- 
ciples similar to those of Hallett, gave an average yield of 
28.3 bushels per aci'e, while during the same years the un- 

^ Georgics I., lines 286-288. 

2 Neb. Bui. 32, p. 91. 

» Kan. Buls. 20, 33, 40 and 59. 



38 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



selected parent sort yielded only 22.5 bushels, an increase dur- 
ing four years of 5.8 bushels per acre. In ten years nearly 25 
per cent in yield was gained.* 

Ninety-six tests of selected wheat seed during the years 1900 
to 1902 at the Canada experiment farms gave an average gain 
of about 3.6 per cent in favor of selection.' Principles ditfer- 
ing somewhat from those usually followed in selection were 




CROSSING AS A CAUSE OP VARIATION: 

Yield in grain of 100 plants, showing greater variation in yield of hybrid than 
of parents. Yield of hybrid shown oy x line. (After Hays.) 



utilized by Lyon.^ His selections were for quality rather than 
quantity. He expei'imented with the smallest and lightest^ker- 
nels on account of their high nitrogen content. Heavy seed 
planted at the rate of 1.5 bushels per acre gave a greater yield 
of wheat the first year than light seed sowed at the same rate. 
Selecting heavy seed grown from the heavy wheat and light 
from the light wheat, the difference in yield in 3 or 4 years was 
small. After the first year of the separation, the light seed 
gave much the greater amount of pi'oteids per acre. Lyon 
points out, however, that proteid nitrogen is no index to the 
amount of gluten, which is the better basis for improvement. 
It is not yet decided whether selection should be for plants with 
large heads or for plants with a large number of medium-sized 
heads. In general, the results of many experiments seem to 
favor the selection of large seed.* 

* Hays, Plant Breeding, p. 10. 

= Evidence of Wm. Saunders, 1903, p. 48. 

' U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Plant Indus.. Bui. 78 (1905). 

* Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), pp. 87-89. 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 39 

While there may be a few slight or questionable exceptions 
to the general rule/ it can be said that enough results of 
scientifically conducted experiments are now at hand to prove 
conclusively that by means of selection alone the yield of wheat 
can be materially increased, even in a few years. The gain 
from the increased yield is much greater than the cost of mak- 
ing the selection, if the work is carried on systematically 
through a series of yeai's. 

A method frequently used is the selection of plump kernels 
from grain in the bulk. While there is doubtless some ad- 
vantage in this method, it cannot give the best results, for 
many of the plump kernels may come from imperfectly filled 
heads, or from plants having few or weak suckers. Selection 
is a choosing of the individual, which, in the case of wheat, is 
a stool with several spikes and many seeds. When mutually 
antagonistic characters are desirable, such as earliness and 
productiveness, selection is very difficult and requires good 
judgment. By proper selection, not only may yield be in- 
creased, but all the other variations above mentioned may be 
influenced. Prolificacy of races may be fixed. Another im- 
portant quality to be considered is vigor. Indeed, it has been 
held that the vigor and productiveness of the parent are far 
more important than its mere size. 

The chance of improvement by selection increases as the 
number from which individuals may be chosen gi'ows larger. 
The plant breeder has a great economic advantage over the 
animal breeder, for the expense of producing seeds for individ- 
ual plants is so small that only a few of the best seeds are 
kept, while in animal breeding expense ordinarily forbids disre- 
garding more than a small per cent as poor specimens. Pro- 
digious variations may be induced by a long continuation of the 
selective process. Rigid selection systematically and scientifi- 
cally practiced on a large scale by European seed growers in 
the last century has increased the sugar content of sugar beets 
more than 100 per cent.^ Six years of selection at the Minne- 
sota station increased the length of flax fiber over 20 per cent. 
Hays estimates that the farmers have increased the yield of 
corn 20 per cent by annually selecting the largest and best 
formed ears from among many thousands. The process has 

* Thorpe, Harper's Mag., 15:302. 

= Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1901, pp. 217-21S. 



40 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

also resulted iu adapting corn to regions far north of its 
forraer habitat. Wheat perhaps has not been so generally im- 
proved by selection as corn has, but the wide practice of seed 
grading through the use of the fanning mill must have similar 
results. This is a slow process, however, and no great changes 
are effected at any one time. 

Natural selection is also continually operative, especially in 
connection with such qualities as rust resistance and hardiness 
against heat, drought or cold. Thus wheat naturally tends to 
adapt itself to its environment. Such crude methods of seed 
selection as have been practiced in conjunction with natural 
selection have been the factors in evolving Turkey wheat so 
tliat it is more drought resistant than formerly, and has im- 
proved in hardiness so that it can be grown much farther 
north. Quality of the grain in any respect, yield, earliness in 
ripening, and non-shattei'ing, in addition to the qualities just 
named above, are some of the most important characteristics 
that may be readily increased on any farm by selecting seed 
from those plants which exhibit these qualities in the highest 
degree. As these things cannot be properly determined after 
harvest, all selections for seed should be made in the field. 
Marked variations or sports possessing improved characters are 
occasionally met with in the fields. These are often carefully 
developed into valuable races by seed selection. Fultz, some 
of the Fife wheats, and many other well-known races have 
been originated in this way. 

Hybridization consists in cross-fertilization. This may be 
simple, the fertilization of one race with another, resulting in 
a hybrid of two bloods, or it may be composite, the fertilization 
of a hybrid with another race or hybrid, resulting in a hybrid 
containing the blood of three or more races or species. Hy- 
bridization may be natural or artificial. Natural hybrids rare- 
ly occur. This is shown by growing different varieties of 
wheat side by side. Why varieties do not cross under these 
circumstances has not been fully explained. It is claimed that 
over half of the pollen from an anther is deposited into the air, 
and it would seem that it could readily find its way to adjacent 
flowers. Possibly the stigma is usually not receptive to foreign 
pollen. 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 41 

In artificial cross-fertilization, self-fertilization must be pre- 
vented by removing the male organs, the anthers, from the 
flower before the plumes are open and the pollen shed. A 
good spike of wheat is prepared for hybridization by removing 
with sharp scissors all but one or two dozen strong flowers in 
the center of the spike. From these the anthers are removed 
Avhile they are still green, or slightly tinged with yellow. To 
prevent accidental introduction of foreign pollen, the emascu- 
lated spike is wrapped about with tissue paper, tied above and 
below. Neighboring sjiikes of the same age show when the 
floAvers are fully developed, usually in one or two days. Pol- 
len brought from the variety chosen for the male parent is 
then inserted into the emasculated florets, and the cross- 
pollinated spike is again wrapped to exclude other pollen and 
to afford protection against pilfering birds and insects. The 
hybrid produced partakes of the characters of both parents. 
Saunders found that the crossbred kernel closely resembles 
that of the female" plant, and that the modifications were not 
distinetlj' manifest until the second generation, when they ap- 
peared in a remarkable degree. Some races of wheat may 
differ so widely that they cannot be successfully crossed. If 
it is desired to combine the characteristics of the two, it can be 
done by first crossing each with an allied variety, when com- 
posite hybridization will succeed between the two hybrids 
produced. 

The operation of cross-fertilization is by far the easiest part 
of the process for attaining results desired. We began with 
a ''good spike." To secure this requires a ready knowledge 
and judgment of wheat. In hybridization, as in selection, any 
quality may serve as an ideal for the oj^erator. To attain 
success, he must know for which qualities to seek and he must 
have the judgment which enables him to recognize these qual- 
ities and to select a foundation stock which possesses them in 
a high degree. This is truly a ease of well begun, half done. 
Certain desirable or necessary qualities may be entirely lack- 
ing in a variety, whicli must then be improved by breeding into 
it the desii'ed characteristics from some other variety possess- 
ing them to an unusual extent. In selecting a stock with which 
to begin, it is advantageous to draw from a variety already 
improved by selection, but the breeding of wheat should not be 



42 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



limited to the few very best wheats, foi- a fairly large number 
of varieties can be used profitably for special characteristics. 
The great advantage of hybridization is shown in three ef- 
fects, all of which aid in accomplishing more rapidly the 
I'esults aimed at in selection. It makes it possible immediately 
and directly to combine the qualities of two different plants 
in one; it immensely increases that variation which alone 
makes selection possible; and it imparts greater vigor to the 
offspi'ing. Hybridizing does not always give a progeny im- 



iaree TVhite 



Htutter's White 
Black Spelt 



JPedia 



Sunqarian 
^Med 



Hybrids Etjbrid5 

MybridJQ Hybrid 4 



)EasexIled 
TaUzvera 





Hrtbrid 



DIAGRAM SHOWING PEDIGREE OF GARTON'S HYBRID. 



mediately averaging better than the parents. In many cases 
the first progeny will average much poorer than either parent. 
Its great value lies in throwing together qualities and multi- 
plying variations, both of which may be developed by selec- 
tion. This gi'eatly increased variation has been explained on 
the ground that "the wheat plant being so closely self -fertile, 
there is within it, lying donnant, a wonderful power to vary 
(a power far greater than in plants cross-fertilized in nature), 
which is thrown into action when different varieties are arti- 
ficially crossed."^ As to these varieties Hays says: "The 
further they have departed from ancestral characteristics and 
formed diverse qualities, the more likely will their pi'ogeny ex- 
hibit new characteristics made up by combining those which 
have becom.e so radically different in the two parents."" There 

^ Carleton, Basis for Tmprov. of Amer. Wheats, p. 73. 
* Plant Breeding, p. 37. 



IMPROVEMENT OF WHEAT 43 

also arise characteristics so new in kind and degree that they 
can hardly he considered as a mere combination of any char- 
acteristics found in the parents. All of the so-called ** botan- 
ical" classes of wheat have been produced by hybridizing two 
varieties, a fact which "certainly indicates blood relation- 
ships between the classes of wheats." 

Since the qualities originated by hybridization must be de- 
veloped by selection, it may take years before the value of the 
hybrid can be determined. The advantage in large numbers 
lies in the fact that ''only one individual in several thousand 
has marked power to produce a valuable strain." These in- 
dividuals have been called the "Shakespeares of the species," 
and the labor of eliminating by selection all of the other in- 
dividuals is 99 times that of producing the hybrids.^ By the 
usual method, the seeds to be tested and selected are planted 
individually in rows 4 or 5 inches apart. If any promising 
plants develop, 100 seeds from each are again planted. These 
groups of plants from single parents are called centgeners. 
By means of selection, crossbred wheats can thus be reduced 
in four or five generations to a type so unifonn that little or 
no variation will occur among plants in the field. Whether 
they will retain their acquired characteristics has been ques- 
tioned. Hybrids originated by Hays and Saunders seem to do 
so. The question as to whether wheat will deteriorate under 
self-fertilization is still an open one. 

In breeding a variety of wheat, the ideal to be held in mind 
constantly is ''that it yield the largest possible amount of grain 
of the best quality for the purpose desired under given con- 
ditions. " ' In such a course botanical appearances seemingly 
will take care of themselves. 

Historical. — The sexuality of plants was proved experi- 
mentally by Camerarius (1691). The first recorded hybrid was 
produced by Thomas Fairchild (1719), an English gardener, 
who crossed the carnation with the sweet william. The publi- 
cations of Koelreuter (1761) paved the way for the work of 
Thomas Andrew Knight (1800), the eminent English plant 
physiologist, who has been called the father of plant breed- 

1 Havs, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1901, p. 229. 
- Scofield, Algerian Durum Wheats, p. 7. 



44 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

ing. The first hybrid produced in the United States was prob- 
ably a pear (1806). The importance of hybridization in re- 
lation to variation was demonstrated by Naudin and Nageli 
(18G5). 

The pioneer producer of wheat hybrids in America was C. G. 
Pringle of Charlotte, Vt. He began his work in 1877, and sev- 
eral varieties have received his name, some of which have be- 
come standard. Pringle 's Defiance has been a rust resistant 
variety of California since 1878. During his connection with 
the Colorado agricultural college A. E. Blount produced quite a 
large number of hybrids, some of which are now well known in 
the United States and are also among the most valuable va- 
rieties in Australia, both as field wheats and as parents of 
native hybrids. The most important are Amethyst, Improved 
Fife, Hornblende, Gypsum, Blount's No. 10, Felspar, Ruby and 
Granite. 

The director of the experimental farm at Ottawa, Canada, 
Dr. William Saunders, began hybridizing wheats in 1888. His 
main object has been to procure early ripening varieties, and 
he has attained success by hybridizing American and Russian 
races. Preston and Stanley are two of his best productions. 
In the main these hybrids have been produced in the most 
simple way. A. N. Jones of Newark, N. Y., practicing com- 
posite crossing, though always with quite closely allied pai'- 
ents, has done the most important work in wheat hybridization 
in this country, and his varieties are now the most widely used 
of all recent American wheat hybrids. The two features char- 
acteristic of his work have been composite methods, and high 
gluten content as an ideal. The nature of the soil and climate 
of eastern United States is such as to produce soft and starchy 
wheats. His efforts have been to raise the standard of eastern 
varieties as to gluten, and he has largely succeeded. Winter 
Fife and Early Red Clawson were the two most popular of his 
first vaiieties. Early Genesee Giant, another well-known va- 
riety which he originated, is widely grown in New York and 
Pennsylvania. It has no ancestors outside of the common 
bread-wheat group. This seems -to be a weak point in Jones' 
method of procedure, for the most advantageous composite 
crossing is supposed to be with varieties of entirely different 
wheat groups. 



IMPROVEMENT OP WHEAT 45 

This gives by far the greatest variations in degree and num- 
ber, and gives qualities not otherwise obtainable. For ex- 
ample, the highest degree of non-shattering must be obtained 
from spelt or emmer, while the quality of resistance to leaf 
rust is best acquired by crossing with the durums. Jones* 
Winter Fife could not be grown in the Palouse country on ac- 
count of its shattering, though it yielded 60 to 65 bushels per 
acre. 

The Garton Brothers of England and "William Farrer of New 
South Wales have extensively practiced crossing the different 
wheat groups. Every variety and every intergradation results 
from such crossing. A local variety may acquire, not only 
rust resistance and tenacity of chaff by intercrossing with a 
spelt and a duriim, but also greater fertility of the head 
drawn from the spelt, and increased vigor of the seed, which 
produce a higher yield. These, and increased hardiness and 
gluten content, are practical results attained by the Garton 
Brothers. William Farrer has done an immense amount of ex- 
cellent work in improving Australian wheats, especially as to 
rust resistance. The most important work in breeding cereals 
on the continent has probably been done by W. Rimpau of 
Schlanstedt, Gennany, though his work is not generally char- 
acterized by composite methods. The Vilmorins have also done 
work in this line. The Battel, one of the most widely dis- 
tinbuted varieties of wheat around Paris, was originated by 
them. 

Breeding Experiments have been carried on in the Kansas 
wheat belt for some years, and extensive co-operative work in 
this line has been taken up with the experiment stations in 
different wheat growing states, particularly in Texas, Kansas, 
South Bakota, Minnesota and Maryland. Efforts are being 
made to secure a variety that will ripen a few days earlier, 
so that by sowing two varieties the harvest period can be 
lengthened, and the danger of green cutting and shattering be 
avoided. Wheat and rye have been successfully hybridized 
by a number of experimenters, but as yet with no valuable 
results. 

Experience has taught that the most successful and practi- 
cal way to fight disease is to aid natural selection in producing 
disease-resistant or immune plants, rather than to attempt to 



46 THE BOOK OF WHEA 

cure the disease. "As a foundation for rational wheat im- 
provement, a knowledge is required of the characteristics and 
needs of different wheat districts, and the characteristic quali- 
ties of the natural groups of wheats." A century ago wheat 
was wheat, but now thousands of varieties have been bred up 
which thrive best under the local conditions for which they 
were bred, and often they satisfy conditions, uses and tastes 
not in existence a century ago. The entire wheat harvest of 
the world is being improved. The value of this work in 
proportion to its cost must appeal to everyone, and indicates 
its permanency. Luther Burbank made the statement that if 
a new wheat were bred that would yield only one grain more 
to each head, Nature would produce annually, without effort or 
cost for man, 15,000,000 extra bushels of wheat in the United 
States alone. 

The conclusions of scientists seem to be that varieties will 
not wear out or materially change if the same conditions which 
made them excellent are kept up. If special care was exercised 
to produce an artificial variety, this care must be continued, 
or it will deteriorate. The impi'ovement of wlieat by breeding 
is no longer a theory, as in the time of Darwin, but an es- 
tablished fact. 



CHAPTER III. 

NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. 

The individual plant is the complex resultant of two 
forces, heredity and environment. Those characteristics of 
wheat which are acquired from environmental influences and 
which are transmissible from generation to generation of 
phints may be considered as belonging to heredity, a subject 
fully treated in the preceding chapter. The natural environ- 
ment, consisting of soil and climate, is a pronounced factor in 
the growth of wheat, independent of the artificial modifications 
known as cultivation. The latter subject is treated in a later 
chapter. 

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES. 

Soil. — There are mechanical and chemical differences in soil 
that exert a varying influence upon the quantity and quality 
of wheat. The effect upon yield is more pronounced than that 
upon quality. In North Dakota 39 different samples of Blue 
Stem and Scotch Fife wheats of known history were obtained 
from farms representing the varied soils of the state. Sown 
upon the same soil, all gave approximately the same results in 
yield and quality of grain and straw. They also matured at 
the same date, and had like periods of development. Another 
experiment was made in which seed raised from one soil was 
hand picked to uniformity, and then grown upon various types 
of North Dakota soil in different portions of the state. The 
resulting grain and straw showed great variation.^ Similar 
experiments were made in Indiana^ and Maryland' with prac- 
tically the same results. 

The soil has been a great factor in determining the distribu- 
tion of wheat. Much of the wheat of the United States is 
grown upon glacial drift soil. There are two general types of 
this soil: The uplands, which are usually of a light-colored, 

• N. D. Bui. 17, pp. 89-95. 
2 Ind. Bui. 41. 
' Md. Bui. 14. 

47 



48 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



tenacious clay; and the lowlands and prairies, Avhich have a 
dark, loamy, organic, friable soil. Common bread wheats are 
usually grown on black soils. These soils are not well adapted 
to fall wheat, however, for it is apt to winterkill. Durum wheats 
thrive best in alkaline soils rich in nitrogenous matter. Sandy 
bottom land is best adapted to the production of soft wheat. 
Richardson attributed the low protein content of some American 
wheat to a deficiency in soil nitrogen. The ash of wheat stands 
next to the gluten in variability', and the factor most concerned 
in its variation is the soil. 




DURUM WHEAT DISTRICTS OP THE UNITED STATES 

(By Carleton) 

The lined districts show where durum wheat will succeed best and the dotted 
districts where it may be grown with grain of less quality. 



Climate. — Seasonal differences are included under this sub- 
ject, because their effects are the same in kind as those of 
climatic differences. Certain climates produce certain cor- 
responding characteristics in wheat, regardless of what the soil 
conditions are. The protein content of wheat, and correspond- 
ingly its moist and di-y gluten, is extremely sensitive to en- 
vironment of a meteorological nature. The starch content is 
also sensitive, but in an inverse ratio. Climate varies from 



NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 49 

year to year in any locality, and it is well known that this 
causes corresponding variations in wheat, even under similar 
soil conditions. In the gluten content is seen the first re- 
flection of a change in envii'onment. The claim has even been 
made that a number of varieties of wheat grown under uni- 
fonn soil and meteorological conditions would yield relatively 
the same percentages of gluten, however much these might vary 
from the normal/ 

Northern grown seed of spring wheats will mature plants 
earlier than southern-grown seed of the same variety, but the 
reverse is true of fall-sown grain, Avhich ripens earlier from 
southern-grown seed/ Wheat raised on the sea coast develops 
special characteristics due, at least in part, to climate. In 
southern Russia Arnautka wheat attains its highest perfection 
only when grown within a limited area bordering the Azov sea. 
All wheat raised directly on the Pacific coast in western United 
States is soft, damp, dark and has a very thick skin. It shades 
off gradually to that grown inside of the coast range and pro- 
tected from the fogs. This inland grain is bright, veiy hard 
and dry, and has a thin skin. 

Regions having cold winters produce most of the world's 
wheat. Marked exceptions to this are California, Egypt and 
India. Small, hard, red grains having a high nitrogen content 
are usually found in a climate characterized by extremes of 
temperature and moisture. Climate and season both affect the 
length of the period of growth. This has an important in- 
fluence on the chemical composition of wheat, for a short sea- 
son of growth raises the percentage of protein and lowers that 
of starch. In Canada, a shorter period of time is required for 
maturity in northern latitudes. The growing season of Winni- 
peg is about one week longer than that prevailing 500 miles 
farther noi'th. 

It has been said that "other things being equal, varieties 
which have become acclimated are to be preferred." While 
this is true, it still leaves us the case where other things are 
not equal. Nearly every climate has its disadvantages for 
wheat growth, and, as we have seen, wheat always adapts itself 
to overcome these disadvantages. The greater they are, the 

> O. Bui 129, p. 5. 

' Yearbook U. S. Dept Agr., 1901, p. 235; S. C. Bui. 56, p. 12. 



50 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

more highly developed must be the resisting qualities of Avheat 
to overcome them. By the law of the survival of the fittest, a 
very detrimental condition in climate or soil develops in wheat 
a correspondingly great power of resistance. This is the 
scientific foundation of the importation of seed wheat. It 
has been recognized and taken advantage of to a certain ex- 
tent, but not as fully as might have been, and consequently 
this point will merit subsequent mention. Advantageous im- 
portations are well illustrated by the introduction of hardy and 
drought and rust resistant varieties from the cold and the hot 
and dry parts of Russia into sections of the United States 
having a similar climate. A low altitude and an abundance of 
moisture seem to produce softer wheats. 

Soil and Climate. — Many characteristics of wheat are due 
to the combined influences of soil and climate. Environments 
that differ widely are characterized by peculiar varieties of 
wheat varying in composition and physical appearance. Soft 
wheat repeatedly sown on heavy, black, upland soil tends to be- 
come hard, while hard wheat becomes soft after years of suc- 
cessive planting on bottom lands. Experiments have shown 
that the environment of Colorado affects the composition of 
wheat by increasing its gluten content at the expense of the 
starch content, while the environments of Oregon, California 
and North Carolina have the opposite effect. A study of the 
map' showing wheat districts will show the general effects of 
climate and soil in the United States. Broadly speaking, the 
hard, red wheats are found in the central, elevated plains, and 
the gTain becomes softer and of lighter color as either ocean 
is approached. American, Russian and Algei'ian wheats have 
about 12 per cent of moisture, while those of Europe have about 
14 per cent." As early as 1884 it was deteimined by chemical 
analyses that the wheats of the Pacific coast in the United 
States have a smaller percentage of albuminoids than those of 
the rest of the country. In recent years there has also been a 
gradual deterioration in the gluten content of North Dakota 
wheats. The attention of the Department of Agriculture was 
called to these deteriorations, which are due to the combined 
effects of soil and climate, and extensive experiments were 
carried on to detennine the exact causes and afford relief. 

1 See p. 0. 

2 Girard & Lindet, Le Froment et sa Mouture, pp. 86-93. 



NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 51 

Wheats are easily changed as to the season in which they are 
sown, the winter to spring and the spring to winter varieties. 
The change is most readily effected in warm, arid climates, 
where irrigation is practically the sole source of moisture. It 
can also be accomplished by sowing the winter wheats later 
and the spring wheats earlier each season. Winter wheat may 
be sown in spring and spring wheat in the fall. Only a very 
few plants will ripen seed, but when this is continuously sown, 
in three years the spring variety will be changed to the winter, 
and vice versa. In 1857 Klippart wrote that red bearded 
Avheat could be changed to white, smooth wheat, and vice versa. 
Kubanka, a yellowish-white spring wheat, found in its perfec- 
tion east of the Volga on the Siberian border, developed into 
a red winter wheat in the Caucasus.^ Red wheat is usually 
more hardy than white Avheat, while bald wheat is usually not 
so well adapted to a hot, dry climate or alkali soil as bearded 
wheat. When seed from irrigated soft wheat has been plant- 
ed without irrigation, it has been known to harden remarkably 
in a single year. 

HEREDITARY INFLUENCES. 

Seed Wheat — In each kernel of wheat are embodied the 
latent possibilities of its future development. Consequently, it 
is very important to select the seed which will bring the best 
results possible in the envii'onment under which it must be 
grown. A knowledge of the importance of good seed wheat, 
and of the principles of its development, does not eliminate all 
of the practical difficulties involved in securing good seed. Fre- 
quently the grower is so situated that he must purchase his 
seed, and he should not follow the common practice of waiting 
to do this until the sowing season has arrived. It is then too 
late to ascertain the origin and histoiy of the grain, or even 
to test its vitality. The speculative markets do not trade in 
seed wheat, and they are not a factor in determining its price. 
The great bulk of seed wheat does not move far, but is grown 
in the locality where it is to be used. Good seed of any of the 
different classes of wheat may generally be procured from the 
section in which that class is most commonly grown. For ex- 
ample, Turkey Red wheat should be bought in Kansas, Ne- 
* Carleton, Macaroni Wheats, p. 11. 




WHEAT PLANTS PROM GOOD AND POOR SEED 



NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 53 

braska or Iowa; Sonera wheat in California; and hard spring 
wheats in the Dakotas or Minnesota. 

Dealers in seed may be divided into three classes according 
to the methods which they pursue. One class buys seed in 
the open market and sells it as that variety for which it was 
bought. Such dealers should be required either to improve 
their methods or to seek a new occupation, for usually the most 
advantageous disposition that can be made of their seed is 
at the nearest grist mill. Another class buys by sample in the 
open market, using all care possible under the circumstances to 
secure correctly named seed of good quality. They make germi- 
nation tests, reclean the seed if necessary, remove light and in- 
jured seeds, and offer for sale only those Avhich are good and 
sound. There is a small class of dealers each of whom makes 
a specialty of some variety which he has grown under con- 
tract. Two points of great importance in regard to their seed 
is that it is usually of the highest qiiality and almost always 
true to name. The grower, in looking for a wheat with the 
proper oi'igin and history, should have a knowledge of the main 
facts and laws set forth in this and the previous chapter, and 
should select seed according to the needs of his environment. 
He should buy by sample in the fall or winter before sowing. 
Its purity he can have determined, and a simple home germinat- 
ing test will give its capacity in germination. Many farmers 
may not j'et be able thus to procure intelligently the seed best 
suited to their environment, but they have a number of insti- 
tutions at their command whose business it is to dispense in- 
foiTnation of exactly this nature. Some experimentation must 
always be engaged in. 

It is only within a few years that the quality of commercial 
seeds has been subjected to any tests other than those made 
by the reliable seed Anns. This shows a great lack of apprecia- 
tion of one of the essential factors of agriculture. It is one 
of the most remarkable and unaccountable facts in connection 
with the development of the United States Department of Ag- 
riculture that it spent a neat fortune in distributing seeds for 
over a half century, and never once tested the quality of the 
seeds sent out. In 1895, ''for the first time in the history of 
the department did its authorities know the real quality of 
the seeds they had distributed. ' ' ^ 

1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1897, p 94. 



54 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

There are no statistics to show how great is the loss result- 
ing from the impositions of unreliable seed firms, but it must be 
millions of dollars. The loss from sowing jDoor seed grown on 
the farm is also great. Frequently, especially among the uned- 
ucated classes, any wheat which is injured too badly for market 
purposes, either by such diseases as smut, or by improper har- 
vesting or storing, is used for seed purposes. Many experi- 
ments with immature seed wheat have been made. While its 
germinating powers may be greater, the conclusion is that 
smaller and less vigorous plants are produced, resulting in a 
lower yield.^ 

It is very questionable whether wheat frozen in ripening, or 
burned in the stack or bin, can be safely used for seed. It 
certainly shoiild not be sown if badly affected, and the only 
way to deteiTnine its value is by a germination test. A low 
germinating power often means a lack in quality as well as in 
(juantity, which makes the use of such seed very hazardous. 

Whether seed will ''run out," and whether it is profitable 
occasionally to ''change seed" or not, has long been a mooted 
question. A change of seed, especially if the change is be- 
tween very distant sections, is almost invariably accompanied 
by some disadvantages. If it is merely a promiscuous exchange, 
as is so often the case, it is very likely that the disadvantages 
will greatly outweigh the advantages. The principles above 
pointed out throw some light on this question and show that 
there is one case in which a change of seed is advantageous, 
namely, from an environment unfavorable in certain conditions 
to one more favorable in these same conditions and having no 
new disadvantages which counterbalance the good results. It 
is obvious that if the transfer is from a favorable to an un- 
favorable environment, the wheat must, by a selective process, 
adapt itself to the new conditions before it can yield as much 
as that which is already adapted. This, of course, has refer- 
ence only to the one variety which is under consideration. 
Thei-e are also other considerations, however. In the first place, 
the custom of changing seed is a costly one in actual expendi- 
ture of cash. Farmers purchase annually many thousands of 
bushels of seed wheat, paying fancy prices and freightage 

1 Rept. N. D. Agr. Col., 1902, p. 32; Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 
1S96, p. 306. 



NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 55 

from distant points, and also paying duty on foreign varieties. 
Then, too, injudicious seed exchange is a source of weed and 
disease dissemination, as well as a powerful influence against 
proper methods of plant breeding. Selection cannot be suc- 
cessfully practiced in improving the quality of grain if the 
seed must be given up every few years for a strain grown upon 
other land. 

Nothing has been found in the principles of wheat de- 
velopment which would indicate that wheat ''runs out," or 
deteriorates, if continually grown on the same farm under 
rational methods of culture. Undoubtedly, any seed may de- 
teriorate because of injuries arising from disease, improper 
cultivation or selection of seed, or from many other causes 
which militate against the production of a nonnal type of 
kernel. Grass wheat fonnerly grown in Kansas is a case in 
point. Experiments at different stations have shown that seed 
may be sown on the same land for many years, and yet give no 
appearance of running out.^ 

The idea that a change in seed gives good results has always 
been founded more upon opinion than upon well ascertained 
facts. It was doubtless first advanced by Columella shortly 
after the Christian era, and has been widely held ever since. 
The most striking argument in favor of the idea is put forth by 
Darwin, who reasons that since a change of residence is of 
undovibted benefit to convalescents, it may be that a change of 
soil is advantageous for wheat. This is only reasoning by 
analogy, however, and involves the comparison of abnormal 
animal life with nonnal plant life, certainly not a strong argu- 
ment at best. Some good authorities still hold that wheat will 
run out if sown continually on the same land." A great and 
preponderating amount of evidence has accumulated, however, 
to show that farmers should rely chiefly upon locally developed 
seed, and that they should give more attention to the produc- 
tion of their own seed. The importation of seed is profitable 
only when differences in the rigors of soil and climate exist. 
Such importations have greatly improved the standard of 
American wheats and have also extended the industry of rais- 
ing them. Foreign wheats are one of the most important fac- 

' N. D. Bui. 17, p. 98. 

= Saunders, Evidence 1903, p. 46; Rept. Kans. State Bd. Agr., 
Vol. 21. No. 81, p. 7. 



56 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

tors in hybridization, supjilying precisely those qualities in 
which American wheat is deficient. 

So far the most valuable importations have been made from 
Russia. The now world famous red winter wheat grown in 
the section of which Kansas is the center was originally im- 
ported by the Department of Agriculture from the Crimea in 
Russia. So successful has it proved that in 1901 Kansas grow- 
ers individually imported over 15,000 bushels of this variety 
for seed. Its superiority consists in higher yield, hardiness to 
winter cold, better milling qualities and great rust resistance. 
Four or five winter varieties obtained from eastern and south- 
ern Russia were tested by the department in 1901 and 1902. 
They were much hardier than any varieties grown in this 
country, and extended the winter wheat area farther north and 
west. The better Russian varieties are late in maturing, while, 
as a rule, Japanese sorts are early. Hybrids from the two I'ipen 
early and possess the good qualities of the hardy Russian sorts. 

Drought-Resisting Durum varieties adapted to alkali soils 
have been introduced from Russia. They have proved them- 
selves admirably suited to the i*egion Avest of the 100th meridian, 
from Texas to Dakota, where wheat growing was supposed to 
be pi-actically impossible. The area on which they may be 
grown is shown on the accompanying map.^ 

Some Hungarian wheats have also been introduced, as well 
as white wheats from Australia, Europe and the Orient, to ob- 
tain a higher grade of wheat with which to replace the de- 
teriorating white wheat of California. The Weissenburg, a 
very promising variety from Hungary, is the source of the flour 
that sells on the Liverpool market for $1.00 more per barrel 
than anj' other flour. ^ 

The introduction of spelt and emmer must also be mentioned 
here, both for a crop and for hybridizing wheats. In all this 
work of introducing and breeding wheat, disease resistance is 
kept in mind, and some sorts remarkably free from rust have 
been procured. There are two needs which are common to the 
whole country. Greater yielding power is, of course, always 
desirable, and for one reason or another, the same is also quite 
generally true of earlier maturity, whether it is to escape 
drought, rust, insects or frost. The new environment may 
» See p. 48. 



NATURAL ENVIRONMENT 57 

cause changes in the imported variety, and it may require sev- 
eral years to determine its merits. 

Instead of scientific agriculture having '^ almost reached the 
limit of its development,"' it has just fairly begun to develop. 
This statement is especially applicable to the careful selection 
of seed. "In Germany, where the percentage of sugar in 
sugar beets is liigh, they deem it necessary to adopt the follow- 
ing jilan to improve the standard. Ten thousand beets say, all 
perfect, are selected from a field where the choicest strain was 
sown and carefully tended. A small section is taken from each 
beet and tested to detennine the percentage of sugar it con- 
tains. The hundred beets of the highest quality are selected 
and planted the next season for seed. The seed from these, is, 
of course, very valuable, representing hundreds of dollars 
worth of work, and it is used simply for growing seed beets. 
From the seed beets thus grown only one hundred of the best 
are again selected as stock to grow seed beets from, while the 
rest of the 10,000, though grown from the same strain of seed, 
are considered only good enough for growing seed for the man 
who raises sugar, and not sugar beet seed. "^ Seed whieli is 
good enough for growing beets for seed is considered much too 
valuable to use in growing beets for sugar. The beet grower 
has made more progress in this respect in one century than 
the wheat grower has in many centuries. It should, neverthe- 
less, be said that the improvement in beets was partly the un- 
foreseen result of European legislation. By a peculiar tax, 
wliatever sugar above a certain per cent was extracted from 
beets paid no tax, or a smaller rate. To increase profits by in- 
creasing this excess proved such an additional stimi;lus to 
improve the sugar content of beets that the legislators appai'- 
ently could not modify the laws fast enough to keep pace with 
the advance." 

While the past importance of introducing new varieties is 
conceded, it is said that ''the time will soon arrive when there 
will be no fui'ther varieties to introduce better than we already 
have." Unquestionably, the breeding of wheat will have an in- 
creasing importance. As wheats may be developed, so they 
may deteriorate, on account of soil and climate, and in such 
cases there must perhaps be a periodical importation of seed. 

'Proc. Tri-State Grain Grow. Ass'n, 1900, p. 170. 

- Handworterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 7:997-1009. 



CHAPTER IV. 
CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 

SOIL PREPARATION 

The cultivation of wheat is coeval with agriculture itself. No 
land was alone the ground of Ceres where the human race 
learned to plow and sow, nor was it the task of any one race 
or nation to tutor mankind in the agricultural arts. How the 
nations of antiquity tilled, sowed and reaped would be of great 
interest, but the records which time has bequeathed to us are 
all but silent upon these homely topics. 

Climatic Effects. — The soil in nature is more uniformly cov- 
ered with vegetation throughout the year than it is under 
cultivation. Dark, exposed soil absorbs more heat than soil 
covered with vegetation. Thus cultivation is supposed to mod- 
erate climate and there is a widely prevalent opinion that it 
also lessens frosts, humidity and rainfall. 

Plant and Soil Effects. — Soil alterations of the highest im- 
portance are made by means of tillage, fei'tilizing and irriga- 
tion. The I'esulting variations in wheat are quantitative rather 
than qualitative, except in the case of irrigation, which is 
practiced on a comparatively small part of the wheat area. 
This process and that of fei'tilizing are discussed in later chap- 
ters. Cultivation, as here used, refers only to the mechanical 
operations connected with raising wheat in the natural environ- 
ment treated in the previous chapter. It renders this natural 
environment artificial to the degree in .which it alters the me- 
chanical arrangement of the soil in nature and eliminates from 
the competition of life other species of plants Avhieh would 
naturally compete with wheat in the struggle for obtaining the 
sustenance held by soil and atmosphere. This sets the 
wheat plant free from many natural conditions which tend to 
destroy unfit variations and to force wheat to assume one 
type. Thus cidtivation, while it has no direct influence in in- 
creasing variation, by removing conditions which exert a se- 
lective influence, is indirectly the means by which a greater 

58 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 59 

number of variations survive. In cultivation itself, as above 
defined, there is no selection. 

The principal effect of cultivation on the growth of wheat is 
through its influence upon the physical condition of the soil, to 
which great importance is attached. By physical condition is 
meant friability or openness, capacity for absorbing and retain- 
ing water and heat, and permeability to roots. Air, which 
is necessary to the roots, is excluded by hard, water-soaked, 
baked or puddled soils, and such soils are also impermeable to 
roots. Stirring or cultivating the soil enables the air to cir- 
culate and the roots to penetrate through it. Tillage has been 
known to increase the yield of wheat over eight bushels per 
acre.* Richardson claimed that it increased the nitrogen con- 
tent of wheat. Generally about 50 per cent of the volume of 
soils is empty space. That is, in one cubic foot of soil there is 
about a half a cubic foot of space into which air and water can 
entei-. 

The Motor Power first utilized was the muscular energy of 
man himself. Its application requires the least intelligence. 
The abundance of human labor, and hence its cheapness, 
coupled with a lack of intelligence to utilize other forces, are 
conditions still existing in vast regions of the earth where it is 
impossible for any other motor power to compete successfully 
with man himself. India, largely using human labor, often 
at a cost of but 4 to 8 cents per day, has been so successful in 
competing with more civilized nations using other forms of 
power as to assume fourth rank among the wheat raising na- 
tions, and to be able to undersell many of them in the world 
markets. Hand labor is used almost exclusively in raising wheat 
in China, Japan, Siam, Syria and Colombia, and very exten- 
sively in Egypt and parts of Greece, Spain, Mexico, and some 
of the South American republics." 

Animal Power. — The first one of the forces of nature which 
man subdued and utilized in relieving himself of some of the 
drudgeries incidental to agriculture was that of the domesti- 
cated beast. There are no marked periods of progress in this. 
Animal power is by far the most universally used in agricul- 
tural operations. As a rule, oxen ai'e found in communities 

' R. C. Bui. 56. p. 12. 

== U. S. Daily Consular Repts., Oct. to Dec. 1903. 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 61 

less developed agriculturally and horses in the more developed 
ones. For example, oxen were preferred to horses in England 
from 1250 to 1650. 

Steam. — After nearly two centuries of projection and in- 
vention, steam was successfully used for agricultural oper- 
ations in England in 1832. The system adopted Avas that of 
di-agging the implements by the aid of pulleys and a cable re- 
volved by a stationary steam engine. This method in improved 
form is still found in Europe. The movable engine appeared 
before 1850. In the United States, activity in the invention 
of steam plows began in 1861, and it was perhaps entirely con- 
fined to the use of the traction engine. On the Pacific coast, 
steam is used quite extensively in the cultivation of wheat, es- 
pecially on the laiger farms. In Germany and Hungary there 
was about one steam plow to every 10 small plows in 1900. 
There have also been experiments with electricity as a motor 
power in agriculture. 

Plowing. — The first plow was simply a ''shai'pened piece of 
wood or the crotched limb of a tiee, " and was evolved from 
the hoe. Some of the eai'liest plows were drawn by two men, 
while two others kept them in the ground. The form represent- 
ed on Egyptian monuments (3,000 B. C.) is an improvement 
on the hooked stick. Chinese historians say that the fii-st plows 
in China were made 2,737 B. C. The plow described by Homer 
was a composite piece drawn by oxen or mules. The early 
Romans had no east steel or iron, and their implement Avas es- 
sentially like that of the Germans. The first use of metal on a 
plow is unknown, but • before the time of Christ the Romans 
yoked the steer to one with a "shining share." The ancient 
Egyptians and Assyrians had plows pointed or edged with iron. 
These primitive implements turned no furrow, but simply 
stirred the ground. Those of the Greeks 2,000 years ago had 
wheels supporting the beams, and similar forms are found 
depicted in Saxon manuscripts. 

The rude primitive plow seems to have been almost univer- 
sally the first agricultural implement drawn by beasts of bur- 
den. The constancy of the type among different peoples is 
remarkable. Under uncivilized or frontier conditions it nearly 
always appears, and its persistence is veiy great. In the 
United States plow^ were worked in Virginia as earlj^ as 1617. 



62 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

Twelve years after the landing of the Pilgrims, the fanners 
about Boston had no plows. The first ones used by French 
settlers in Illinois were of wood with a small point of iron tied 
on with straps of rawhide. The oxen were yoked to them by 
the horns. This method of hitching was rivaled only in 
Saxony and Ireland, where the horses were fastened to the 
plow with their tails. An attempt was made to abolish this 
practice in Ireland by act of Parliament in 1634. Arthur 
Young (1741-1820) mentioned it in his time, however, and 
Gibbons maintained that it Avas still to be found in remote 
parts of Ireland as late as 1896. 

In England, from one to eight oxen were used in the eleventh 
century, while four horses or oxen were usual in the seven- 
teenth century. The first i^low in California (about 1835) was 
a crooked branch with an iron toe. On the whole, the American 
form before 1767 was practically the same as that used by the 
Romans before the Christian era, and this type was still found 
in Europe in 1867. It was the only agricultural implement of 
France in the eleventh century, and of Sicily in 1863. In 
southern Greece many plows similar to those of the age of 
Pericles (450 B. C.) are still being used. Many of those in 
Russia are equally primitive, while the Spanish, South French 
and Italian forms resemble the Roman type. 

Thei'e was little improvement in the plow during the middle 
ages, perhaps largely on account of legislative restraint. Many 
popular prejudices also existed. In England, for example, after 
the farmers hrd experimented with iron plows of good con- 
struction, they concluded that the iron made the weeds grow; 
and in America iron plows were supposed to poison the soil 
and to prevent the growth of crops. It was not until the end 
of the seventeenth century that plows began to be impi'oved. 
The moldboard was then made of iron and steel and given its 
proper form. While the plow was always essentially a wedge- 
shaped instrument forced through the soil to loosen it, these 
improvements perfected it so that the draft was reduced by 
one-third and the implement was also much more complete in 
its operation on the topsoil, which it gradually loosened, raised 
and completely turned over to one side. Coulters were known 
in England at least as early as the eleventh century. Fitzher- 
bert writes of different kinds of i)lows for different soils in 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 63 

1534. The date of the first English patent on this implement 
is 1720. The cast iron plow was first patented in the United 
States in 1797. A patent on an adjustable cast iron point in 
1818 marks the introduction of the most useful economy in 
plow manufacture, the interchangeability of parts. 

Modern Plows are practically the same in principle as 
those described above. The only improvements which have 
been made are in minor details. The draft and friction have 
been reduced to a minimum, and forms have been invented 
which are best suited for different types of soil and for the 
application of different kinds of motor powei*. The common 
hand plow is undoubtedly most widely used, and the small farm 
rarely ever has any other. It is drawn by two horses. Another 
widely used form is the sulky plow, having two wheels to carry 
the beams, and a seat for the driver. Two or three horses are 
required. The acreage covered depends on the condition of 
the soil, and varies from one to two acres per day. These are 
the common foi-ms used by all the large wheat raising coun- 
tries. Another common type used on large farms is the gang 
plow, drawn by horses or steam. This is merely a number of 
common plows combined in one frame. A usual plow in the 
Red river valley is a gang cutting 16 inches in two furrows, 
drawn by five horses and turning 250 acres in from four to six 
weeks. Steam is not used, as mud was found to cut out the 
plow bearings when it was wet, and the expense of keeping 
horses is necessitated by other farming operations. In some 
parts of California, plows are set in gangs of as many as 14. 
They are drawn by eight mules, and plow three inches deep 
at the rate of 10 or 15 acres per day. A traction engine with 
large gangs of plows or discs is often used on the larger farms, 
accomplishing an enoimous amount of work in a little time. 

Special forms of plows adapted to the use of a sta,tionary 
engine have been evolved in Europe. The Eowler plow is per- 
haps the best known and most effective of these. It consists 
practically of eight turnover plows yoked together, and is 
capable of plowing 40 acres of land a day and accommodating 
itself to the most uneven ground. The electric plow of Austria 
is also worthy of mention. 

Time of Plowing. — In general, it may be said that in the 
spi-ing wheat area of the United States, fall plowing slightly 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 65 

<ncreases the yield, is most destructive to weeds and insects, 
and is the most economical in farm management. For winter 
wheat, the ground is plowed as soon after harvest as is practi- 
cable. This destroys the Aveeds before they ripen their seed 
and gives time for a compact seedbed. The pulverized surface 
soil more readily retains and absorbs moisture, upon Avhich, 
in the absence of vegetation, no demands are made by growth. 
The depth of plowing should vary with the climate and with 
the nature of the soil and the subsoil. The limits of the va- 
riations usually found advantageous are between four and 
eight inches in depth. 

Subsoiling. — As the common plow is in effect a wedge pass- 
ing through the soil on a horizontal plane, the uppermost layer 
of the subsoil is com^jacted at each plowing. This renders the 
subsoil more impervious to water and roots. Subsoiling con- 
sists in breaking up the subsoil, and does not necessarily in- 
volve changing the relative positions of subsoil and topsoil. 
Judged by experiment station results, it does not seem to be an 
economical opei'ation. 

The Seed Bed. — Soil, on account of its tine texture or wet 
condition, may be lumpy after plowing. The spaces in it are 
then very irregular in size, and the soil is in a poor condition 
to draw up water from below, or to furnish uniform germinat- 
ing conditions for the seed. In such cases it is customary and 
advisable to Avork the soil Avith a harrow, roll, or other im- 
plement until the larger lumps are broken and the surface be- 
comes smooth and even. The seed bed is then ready for the 
soAving. Thorough pi'eparation conserves the moisture, dimin- 
ishes Avinterkilling, and increases the yield. In both the 
spring and Avinter Avheat districts of the Mississippi valley, it 
is a general practice to soav Avithout ploAving on land that has 
produced corn the preceding year. In the case of winter 
wheat, the grain may simply be drilled betAveen the rows of 
corn, with a five-hoe drill, or the seedbed may first be prepared 
with a disc or tooth harrow. Corn ground for spring wheat 
also is often prepared by using an implement of the disc har- 
roAv type. 

SEEDING. 

Sowing. — There are three methods of soAving wheat: Broad- 
casting, Avhich scatters the seed evenly oA^er the ground; drill- 



66 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

iiig:, wliicli places it in rows; and dibbling, in which a certain 
number of grains are dropped in each hill by means of a 
dibbling iron. Diverse means have been employed in each 
method. Dibbling, once quite extensively practiced in England, 
is never found now, unless it is with the experimenter. Na- 
ture's method, broadcasting, was also the first method of arti- 
ficial seeding. The seed was simply scattered by hand. Of the 
three ways, drilling is now recognized as the most advan- 
tageous. The conclusion from station experiments is that the 
increase in yield will amply pay for any extra cost involved in 
drilling.^ Less seed is required, for the wheat is more uni- 
formly distributed and covered. If it is sown at an even depth 
in moist soil, quick germination results. This places weeds at 
a disadvantage, especially in spring wheat. Drilling also de- 
creases the danger from drought, Avinterkilling, and the blow- 
ing of soil by the wdnds. The snow lodged in the furrows left 
by the drill affords protection and moisture. 

Seeders.— After hand sowing came the seeder, which accom- 
plished the same results mechanically. Such machines are by 
no means modern, though in England and Germany they can 
be traced only to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
The ancient Chinese, Persians, Hindoos and Romans used them, 
as well as the drill, which was doubtless the next seeding ma- 
chine to be invented. Ardrey maintains that the first histori- 
cal knowledge of a seeder pertains to an Assyi'ian drill used 
many centuries before Christ. The Egyptians of 3000 B. C. 
sowed by hand, the method still widely followed all over the 
world where the farms are very small, or where the standard of 
farming is not high, as, for example, among the low^er classes 
of Russian peasantry. In early England the wheat was sown 
into the plow furrow, often by a mere child, who carried a bag 
or wooden hopper (known as a seedlip or seedeod) full of grain 
in front of the horses or oxen drawing the plow. The same 
practice prevails in east central India, a woman taking the 
place of the child. By another method in India, the seed is 
thrown through a tube attached to the plow handles. 

Jethro Tull introduced the drill in England in 1730. His 
first machine sowed three rows of wheat at a time. In 1851 
1 Hunt, Cereals in Anier (1904). p. S4. 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT 



67 



Pusey wrote: **The sower Avith bis seecllip lias almost van- 
ished from southern England, driven out by a complicated ma- 
chine, the drill, depositing the seed in rows, and drawn by sev- 
eral horses." In America, the first patent granted on a seeding 
machine Avas in 1799. A slide broadcast seeder, which was a 
riding implement, was patented in 1835; the rotary broadcast 
seeder came in 1856; the grain drill in 1874; and the riding 
grain drill in 1884. 

The Wagon Seeder is the best machine that has ever been 
devised for rapidly broadcasting wheat. It is mounted on a 
special tail-board, which, when the machine is used, is sub- 
stituted for the tail-board of the wagon. It consists of a seed- 
hoi^per; a driving shaft connected by a sprocket chain with a 
sprocket wheel fastened to one of the rear wagon wheels; a 
rotating seed plate in the bottom of the hopper; and a 




A MODERN PRESS DRILL WITH DISCS 

distributing wheel shaped like a windmill. The grain falls 
upon the distributing wheel, from which it is effectively scat- 
tered by centrifugal force. In the ordinaiy force-feed seeder 
gravity does the distributing, but here the additional factor of 
the centrifugal force given by the disti'ibuting wheel is in- 
volved. Two men and one team can broadcast 100 acres a 
day with this machine. 

The Press Drill is similar to the ordinary broadcast seeder 
in that it carries, parallel to the axis of its two wheels, a 
seed-box having a number of seed-cups in its bottom. Prom 
these cups the seed is brought by feed-wheels which are at- 
tached to a revolving shaft. This force feed was the first great 



68 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



improvement over utilizing gravity alone for the purpose of 
distributing the seed. The grain falls into a tube, which, in- 
stead of scattering it as in the seeder, carries it in a steady 
stream to the bottom of the shoe. The soil is pressed laterally 
by the shoe, and the seed finds a moist bed in Avhich to germi- 
nate. It differs from the ordinary drill in that it presses a V 
groove instead of scratching a trench. The press or shoe drill 
has largely superseded the hoe drill, especially in the far west. 
Disc drills are also used, but they are not adapted to stony, 
hilly or Avet land. Drills and broadcast seeders are made in 
standard widths of 8, 11 and 14 feet. The tendency in recent 
years is to drill in the wheat, except perhaps in California. 
In the Red river valley four-hoi'se press drills covering 12 feet 
are used. About 30 acres a day are sown by one man, and no 




A TYPICAL FORCE FEED BROADCAST SEEDER 



subsequent cultivation is necessary. By the old method of 
seeding by hand, one man could sow about 16 acres per day, and 
the wheat had to be cultivated into the ground after it was 
sown. 

The Order in Which Seeders Have Evolved is somewhat as 
follows: (1) Sowing by hand; (2) the broadcast seeder, tak- 
ing the place of the hand, the flow of the seed depending on 
gravity; (3) the broadcast seeder with force feed; (4) the ordi- 
nary drill with a force feed putting the grain in evenly in 
rows and deeper; (5) the press drill, which is now the best ma- 
chine we have for seeding. In the absence of wind, the hand 
grass seeder can be used advantageously for broadcasting small 
areas. 



CULTIVATION OF WHEAT (J9 

Perhaps the only region in the world where nature still oc- 
casionally seeds the ground by her own methods so efficiently 
as to produce a crop is on the Pacific coast of the United States. 
Some wheat is nearly always ''shed" or shelled out before or 
during harvest, and, if cultivateJl into the ground by harrowing 
or discing, produces what is known as a "volunteer" crop. If 
not enough has been shed, frequently a little more is scattered 
over the field, and instances are not uncommon where 25 to 30 
bushels per acre have been yielded by such volunteer wheat 
lands. 

The Amount of Seed required per acre varies with time and 
method of seeding, with soil and climate, with different varie- 
ties of wheat, and even with size and quality of seed of the 
same variety. One variety may have only half as many grains 
in a bushel as another. A bushel of shriveled wheat will have 
more grains than a bushel of plump wheat. The lower the 
germinating power, the more seed will have to be sown per 
acre. Less seed is required if the time is early, if the rainfall 
is light, if the soil is fertile, if the seedbed is well prepared, 
and if the grain is di'illed. The yield, however, is not propor- 
tionate to the seed sown, for by tillering more or less, the 
wheat plant adjusts itself to its environment. The most usual 
amount sown per acre in the United States is about 5 pecks. 
It varies from 2 pecks in parts of California to 9 pecks in 
Ohio. The average amount sown per acre in the United States 
is 1% bushels in the winter wheat regions, II/2 bushels in the 
spring wheat regions, 7 to 9 pecks in the Middle Atlantic 
states, 6 to 8 peeks in the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, and 3 
to 8 pecks in California.^ 

The Time of Seeding varies so much with soil, climate and 
different varieties of wheat that, taking the world around, any 
time during the entire year is the best time for some particular 
locality. For the United States Carleton says: "It is a pretty 
safe rule to follow the practice of sowing always at a date 
which is considered to be early in that locality. At the proper 
time the seeding should be done at once, without regard to 
weather conditions."" Local conditions must always determine 
the time for any particular locality. For example, if an attack 

» Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), p. 86. 
» Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1900, p. 541. 



70 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

of Hessian fly is imminent in a certain region, the farmers 
should take concerted action for later sowing. Spring wheat 
should usually be sown as soon as the ground is in a condition 
for seeding. Winter wheat sown too late lacks the vitality 
needed to withstand the cold, and sown too early it produces a 
rank and succulent growth that is injured by freezing. 

The Depth of Seeding varies with the nature of the soil, the 
amount of moisture, and the condition of the seedbed. In a 
dry, sandy or cloddy soil, it is necessary to sow deeper than in 
a wet, clay, or level soil. Ordinarily, the wheat should be 
covered with about one inch of moist soil. 

Harrowing. — After the ground is once plowed, the im- 
plement most commonly used for further cultivation, either be- 
fore or after sowing the wheat, is the harrow. There are three 
principal objects in harrowing: (1) To kill weeds and grass, 
which would otherwise absorb moisture and nourishment need- 
ed by the wheat; (2) to level the sui'face and to keep it cov- 
ered with a loose, dry mulch, both of which also conserve 
moisture; and (3) to cover the seed. In drilled wheat the lat- 
ter is performed in sowing. All three of these objects may 
be attained in one operation. 

The most primitive method of harrowing was to drag over 
the ground the limb of a tree with extending branches. This 
implement, like the rude plow, is often found reappeai'ing on 
the frontier of civilization. It is easily improved and widened 
by fastening together a number of branches so that it does 
better work and covers a wider area. In California, in 1835, 
the wheat was sown broadcast by hand and brushed in with the 
branch of a tree drawn twice over the ground. The writer can 
well remember when, as late as the middle eighties, he brushed 
w^ieat into the ground with a "di'ag" made from scraggy 
wild plum trees cut on the banks of the Dakota river. A 
similar implement was also used in other parts of the United 
States. Another very primitive method of covering the grain 
AA'as that used in ancient Egypt, Avhere it was trampled into the 
loose gi'ound by the hoofs of animals. 

The Romans used a kind of harrow before the Christian era. 
In 1534 harrows with iron teeth were used in England, as 
well as some with wooden teeth. In Northumberland, in 1650, 
"the harrow was constructed without joints and without iron, 



CULTIVATION OF AVHEAT 71 

of branches of the mountain-birch, fixed together with wooden 
pegs, with tines of the tough broom."' The oldest and simplest 
form of the harrow had a wooden frame with teeth of wood or 
iron. As it was drawn over the field, it combed or raked the 
surface quite level. Two improvements have since been made. 
It is constructed in two or more sections so that it can accom- 
modate itself to uneven ground; and flexible steel bars are 
used in the frame so that by means of a lever the teeth can be 
set at any angle. Harrows 25 feet in width are now used on 
the large western fanns of the United States. With such a 
harrow one man and four horses can cover 60 to 75 acres per 
day. 

Various other forms of harrows have been devised. The 
principal ones are the spring tooth and the disc harrows. The 
latter consists of a main frame to which are pivoted two sup- 
plementary frames. Mounted within each one of these is a 
shaft carrying a series of concavo-convex discs, and the whole 
series is rolled over the ground. Adjusting levers swing the 
supplemental frames to any angle in relation to the line of 
draft. The soil is cut and thrown out in a degree proportional 
to the angle set. It was first used by the Japanese in ancient 
times. In the last decade the disc principle has been widely 
applied to harrows, plows and cultivators. 

Cultivation by one Operation. — As early as 1618 a machine, 
worked by steam, was invented and patented in England which 
plowed and fertilized the land and sowed the seed, all at one 
operation.^ There is no record of its having done anj' work. 
In the same countiy a "double-hoppered drill-plough" was ad- 
vertised as a new machine in 1744. It drilled and covered 
wheat and fertilizer together. Perhaps the only instance where 
any practical and extensive results in this line have been ob- 
tained is in California and northwestern Canada. Gang plows 
are used, and a broadcast seeder attached to the rear of the 
plow sows the seed as fast as the ground is plowed. The seeder 
is usually followed by a harrow, also attached to the plow. A 
small outfit, operated by one man and drawn by a team of eight 
mules, will plow, sow and harrow-in the seed in one operation 
at the rate of from 10 to 15 acres per day. On the large farms 

* Grey, Agr. in Northuinb., p. 4. 

• Perels, Bedeutung des Machinenwesens, etc., pp. 11-13. 



72 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

this machinery is combined into great gangs drawn by a power- 
ful traction engine, and such outfits may cover from 35 to 100 
acres per day. 

Cultivation Subsequent to Sowing. — As a rule, in most coun- 
tries wheat receives no cultivation between sowing and har- 
vesting. Occasionally, however, it is harrowed or rolled after 
the seed has germinated, or after it has made some growth and 
become firmly rooted. This is done to kill weeds or retard 
evaporation. Ordinarily, such cultivation has not been found 
of advantage in modern wheat growing. In Japan wheat is 
planted in rows and hoed, but vegetables are usually raised at 
the same time between the rows. In the time of Fitzherbert, 
a kind of wooden shears or hook was used in pulling the weeds 
out of Avheat. In the eighteenth century when wheat was 
drilled in England, it was hoed with a mattock or hoe. 

Pasturing winter Avheat is practiced to a certain extent. 
This should never be continued late in the spring, or when the 
soil is not in suitable condition, for yield and quality of wheat 
will then be lowered. If judiciously practiced, there may be no 
reduction in yield.* 
1 Okla. Bui. 65, p. 6. 



CHAPTER V. 
HARVESTING 

EARLY CUSTOMS 

Risks and Customs of the Harvest Period. — Man has a regu- 
hitive control that is sufficient to insure a ci'op over so few of 
the essential conditions of wheat growing tliat there is always 
a very large element of risk involved from the time the wheat 
is sown until it is harvested. Increasing control due to ac- 
cumulating knowledge acquired from past experience continu- 
ally diminishes the risk. When a balance of all these things 
has been struck, however, the fact remains that the modern 
wheat grower is playing with many factors, anyone of which 
may cause a partial or complete crop failure. Extremes of 
heat and cold; drought; superabundance of rainfall; destructive 
hail or wind storms; floods; parasitic plants, such as smut and 
rust; predatory insects, birds and rodents; fire; various dis- 
eases and other unfavorable conditions may defeat all means 
to success at the farmer's command. Thus wheat raising, like 
most of the extractive industries, has a large aleatory element 
which cannot be eliminated, though it may be reduced to a 
constant factor by means of the insurance principle, to which 
we will give subsequent attention. 

This risk which is involved reaches its maximum at the har- 
vest period. In most regions wheat must be promptly har- 
vested when it is ripe. If not then attended to, not only is 
the period of ri,sk prolonged when there is no possibility of 
fui'ther gain, but an actual loss is sustained under the most 
favorable conditions, and the grain is also more susceptible to 
the destructive influences of its environment. The grain will 
now be shelled or lodged by wind previously harmless, many 
birds seek food in the ripened fields, and tlie rain causes the 
seed to lose color and to sprout. The ripening grain must be 
closely watched, for the deteiTuining change in the heads may 
occur between one day and the next. The field must usually 
be harvested within two weeks. 

In wheat raising the whole year's toil meets with no reward 
before the harvest. If this is lost, the fruits of all previous 

73 



74 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

labors go with it. Before the advent of modern machinery, 
iiarvesting was the most burdensome and exacting operation 
on the farm. It couki not be delayed. The completion of the 
harvest gave relief from this season of toil and anxiety, and 
replenished bountifully the stores of grain which had become 
scant. Secure in this abundance and free from the arduous 
labors, the early husbandmen enjoyed a time of unusual license 
during which they dispelled their cares with rounds of uproar- 
ious jollification. During these general rejoicings practically 
all nations celebrated with games and rustic fetes the final in- 
gathering of the sheaves. In England the close of the season 
was marked with the ''Harvest Home." A procession led by 
a pipe and tabor marked the bringing home of the last sheaves 
in the hock-cart. The load was surmounted by a sheaf shaped 
and dressed to represent the goddess Ceres, or by pretty girls 
of the reaping band in fantastic attire. The reapers danced 
about the procession, shouting: 

Harvest-home, harvest-home, 

We have plowed, we have sowed, 

We have reaped, we have mowed, 

We have brought home every load, 

Hip, hip, hip, harvest-home, etc. 
In France and western Germany was found the Harvest May, 
bouquet de la moisson. A green sapling or branch was selected 
at harvest time and adorned with flowers, ornaments, and dainty 
eatables. It was often set up in the field that was being 
reaped. When the harvest was made, it was bi'ought home on 
the last sheaf or load. The farmer received it with a solemn 
welcome and attached 't to some conspicuous spot on the barn 
or house, where it remained until replaced by its successor. 
These harvest festivals of modern Eni^ope are very similar to 
those of ancient Greece, from which they have descended. 
There a branch of olive or laurel was used for the eiresione, 
or harvest bush, and it was carried to the temple of Apollo. 

The great harvest festival of Rome Avas the Saturnalia, held 
late in December at the end of tlie vintage and harvesting. All 
classes, even the slaves, devoted themselves to feasting and 
mirth. Probably one reason why our Christmas was placed at 
the end of December was that it might supplant the Saturnalia 
and other heathen festivals. While Christmas is a festive oc- 



HARVESTING 75 

easion, and once took the place of harvest festivals, Thanks- 
giving Day is our national harvest festival. It ranks as a 
legal holiday and is fixed by proclamation. This day was sug- 
gested by the Hebrew feast of tabernacles, or the ''feast of 
ingathering at the end of the year." Occasionally in our 
country there is also an after harvest dance. 

Our festivals, however, have lost the rude simplicity and 
rustic romance characteristic of the past, and they are less 
immediately connected with the harvest. Modern invention has 
quite changed the nature of harvesting, rendering it an ordi- 
nary process and depriving it of many features which made it 
important and interesting in the olden times. One feature 
which has survived is the annual migration of harvest la- 
borers. The novelty, the hardship, and the adventure incident 
to the travel, and the unusual compensation for the toil, so 
often performed with emulative zeal, have always lent a pe- 
culiar chaiTB and enchantment to this occupation for a certain 
class of humanity. Every harvest, bands of the Irish used to 
travel to England, while the Italians and Austrians still go to 
France and Germany to help reap the grain. Shiploads of 
Italians regularly go to Argentina for the harvest time, and 
return to Italy when the season is over. Every year great 
numbers of agricultural laborers, both men and women, emigrate 
fi'om the central and western provinces of Russia to the steppes 
of the east and southeast. 

Nowhere else has this feature of harvesting evolved to such 
an extent as in the United States. The characteristic attrac- 
tions are here found in an unusual degree, especially upon the 
bonanza farms of the northwest. In this district there is no 
farming in the usual sense of the word, for wheat raising has 
become a business interest differentiated from all others. The 
hard and practical business atmosphere of our age is every- 
Avhere prevalent, an atmosphere that would soon chill the sim- 
ple home customs of our fathers. Not even home life is found 
here, for the year around the bulk of the work is done by 
transient laborers who live at the division dormitory, or in 
quarters far out on the fields. Nor is there the association of 
the factory, for men working on different parts of the same 
farm will often not see each other a single time from one 
year's end to another. But for the haiwester the fascination 



76 THE DOOK OF WHEAT 

of magnitude is always present, for magnitude is characteristic 
of every phenomenon and of every operation. The mere sight 
of a field of swaying, rippling wheat, with its green and gold, 
and with wave upon wave rolling away beyond the observer's 
horizon, surpasses description. 

The Harvest Laborer.— In the United States, the wheat 
harvest begins in earnest by June. It is September before the 
last harvester passes northward out of the Red river valley, and 
during this time the merry click of the reapers is heard from 
sun to sun. This harvest-time succession has developed its own 
typical harvester. He first appears in Oklahoma. As the 
wheat ripens, he travels northward. Before Kansas and Ne- 
braska are left behind, his possessions include a little money, a 
blanket, and perhaps a sooted tin tea pail. He is now one of 
an army of many thousands, a great number of whom follow 
the harvest through the Dakotas and beyond the Canadian 
border. The typical men of this class I'arely pay railroad 
fare. Many of them ride into the bonanza district on the 
"blind-baggage" of passenger trains. Perhaps most of them 
ride on freight trains, at times over a hundred on one train. 
As a rule, the men of this class are not ''hoboes," though now 
and then a tramp does work. The tramp element helps some, 
especially when laborers are scarce, but they are poor and un- 
satisfactory workmen, and are avoided when possible. 

Perhaps a large majority of the men required to harvest the 
wheat of the middle west do not follow the harvest northward, 
but merely work through the season in one locality. Tempted 
by low railroad fares and large wages, they come from nearby 
cities, and from the states east and south of the wheat district. 
Many of them are farmers and farmers' sons. A large per 
cent are foreigners, especially Scandinavians. The personality 
of the men varies much. Among them the writer has found the 
city banker again seeking in the harvest fields during a brief 
vacation the health and pleasures experienced in younger 
years; the refined college youth earning the means with which 
to finish his course in the east; the western pioneer making 
a desperate effort to keep the wolf from the door of the shanty 
that sheltered his family, and to save the homestead by paying 
the interest on the mortagage which drought and frontier mis- 
fortunes had placed upon it; the dreamy faced wanderer who 



HARVESTING 77 

merely drifts with bis environment; and the coarse, hard- 
featured criminal and ex-convict. It has been estimated that 15 
men for every 1,000 acres of wheat migrate annually to the 
wheat districts. The number recruited from other sections for 
the harvest of Kansas alone in 1903 is claimed to have been 
28,000, a force half as large as the standing army of the United 
States. Employment agencies in adjacent states sent men into 
Kansas in companies of 100 and 200. Some farmers used all 
the guile and promises at their command to induce men to stop 
with them instead of journeying farther. Some men were ac- 
tually kidnapped, it is claimed, from the platforms of the 
trains, and held by force till their train had gone. ''In Saline 
and Cloud counties, when the harvest started and there was a 
shortage of hands, the farmers' daughters went into the fields 
while the thermometer Avas close to the one hundred mark and 
did the work of men." Many of these harvesters remain over 
for the threshing, which often lasts until the snow flies in De- 
cember. Doubtless a majority of the men go as they came, on 
special railway excursions, for which fares are frequently one 
cent a mile. The itinerant harvesters disappear so gradually 
that no one knows where they have gone. Some of them find 
their way to the mines of the Rocky Mountains. Many of them 
go to the logging camps of Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

In Argentine there is a succession of harvest-times similar 
to that in the United States. It begins in the northern pi-ov- 
inces in November and continues to move southwai'd until Feb- 
ruary. The succession of wheat-harvesting seasons in different 
countries of the world is given below:' 

January. — Australia, New Zealand, Chile. 

February and March. — Upper Egypt, India. 

April — Lower Egypt, India, Syria, Cyprus, Persia, Asia Minor, 
Mexico, Cuba. 

May. — Texa.s, Algeria, Central Asia, China, Japan, Morocco. 

June. — California, Oregon, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Kansas, 
Arkansas, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, 
Portugal, South of France. 

July — New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, 
Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Southern Minnesota, Nebraska, 
Upper Canada, Roumania, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Southern 
Russia, Germany, Switzerland, South of England. 

August. — Central and Northern Minnesota, Dakotas, Manitoba, 
Lower Canada, Columbia, Belgium, Holland, Great Britain, Denmark. 
Poland. Central Russia. 

September and October. — Scotland, Norway, Northern Russia. 

November. — Peru, South Africa, Northern Argentina. 

December. — Argentina, Burmah, New South Wales. 

' Crop Reporter, June, 1899. 



78 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Proper Stage of Maturity for Harvesting. — In most of the 
wheat growing countries it is a very general practice to begin 
harvesting before the wheat is quite ripe. This lessens the 
danger from loss on account of over-ripeness, and if the grain 
is properly cared for, it does not seem to diminish the yield. 
Ordinarily, cutting should begin as soon as the straw turns yel- 
low and the grain is in the dough. A good test is that the 
kernel "should be soft enough to be easily indented with the 
thumb nail and hard enough not to be easily crushed between 
the Angers.''^ In a climate like that of California, wheat may 
stand without injury for over two months after it is ripe. 
There is no danger from rain, and the only loss occuri'ing re- 
sults from an occasional sandstorm. 

HARVESTING IMPLEMENTS. 

Machinery for Harvesting. — The development of agricultural 
machinery is a very important factor in the world's economic 
progress. Growth in this direction has been very marked in recent 
years, and in no class of agricultural implements has it been more 
so than in that for reaping grain. The primitive method of har- 
vesting wheat doubtless consisted in merely pulling up the 
plants by the roots and stripping the heads from the stalks by 
means of a comb or hackle, but long before written history 
crude implements were devised to assist the hand in pulling or 
breaking off the straw. From these rude beginnings to the 
modern combined harvester and thresher is a far cry, and the 
wheat grower who sacks his thousands of bushels of wheat from 
over 100 acres in a single day has little conception of the 
amount of painful study and experimentation, and of the nu- 
merous inventions it has required to evolve from the ancient 
sickle the perfected machine with which he so easily gathers 
liis grain. 

The Sickle. — Flint implements resembling a rude form of 
sickle or reaping hook are found among the remains of the 
later stone age in Eui-ope. The remains of the early European 
habitations contain bronze sickles. The earliest records of 
Egypt contain accounts of reaping by means of crudely con- 
structed implements similar to the modern sickle in form. 

' Hunt. Cereals in America (1904), p. 103. 



HARVESTING 



79 



Greece, receiving the art of agriculture as a heritage from 
Egypt, had simihir forms, as did also the Jewish nation. Since 
ancient times, the Chinese and Japanese have reaped with an 
implement resembling the sickle. 

All sickles were used with one hand only. The grain was not 




DIFFERENT FORMS OP EARLY SICKLES AND SCYTHES 

As lettered above : a. Egyptian sickle ; h. sickle of the middle ages ; /.smooth- 
edged sickle; c. toothed sickle; d. early form of scythe; e. Hainault 
scythe and hook. 

always bound in sheaves. One man could bind what six reapers 
cut, using * ' corn ' ' for binding. A reaper cut an average of one 
acre per day.^ Brewer, however, states that in England in 1844 
seven persons usually cut one to one and one-half acres in ten 
hours." Besides being still widely used in China and Japan, the 
sickle is also a common imj^lement among the Russian peasants, 
and in Sicily. The first wheat raised in the Red river valley in 
America was cut with sickles and bound with willow withes by 
women and children. 

The Scythes and Cradles are all used with both hands. They 
evolved from tlie sickle and form the second class of reaping 
appliances. The Hainault scythe, a Flemish implement, was a 
form intermediate between the sickle and scythe. It had a wide 
blade about 2 feet long. The handle, about a foot in length, 
was held in the right hand, and had a leather loop into which 
the forefinger was inserted. The handle also had a flat part 
which projected against the wrist, and served to keep the blade 
in a horizontal position. The left hand, aided by a hook, gath- 
ered the grain. The early scythes were clumsy and heavy. 
They had straight handles, and were used for cutting grass 

* Rogers, Hist. A^r. and Prices, Eng., 5:53. 
- First Cen. of Repub., p. 176. 



80 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



only. As the scythe evolved, the blade became lighter and the 
handle passed through many forms before it permanently as- 
sumed the crooked wooden pattern. When fingers were fas- 
tened to the snath to assist in collecting the grain into bunches 
or gavels, the scythe became a cradle. The latter implement 
was perfected in America durina' the last quarter of the 
eigiiteenth century. 

The scythe seems to have appeared first among the ancient 
Romans. Before 1850, the scythe or cradle and the sickle were 
the implements almost universally used in harvesting grain. 
The perfected American cradle spread rapidly to other eoun- 





AN EARLY CRADLE 



A MODERN CRADLE 



tries, but not without opposition. In England such violent op- 
position developed at Essex that the farmers were "deterred 
from the practice." The scythe and cradle are still frequently 
found in use in Russia and in various other parts of Europe. 
They are also found in America under conditions which render 
other implements impracticable. Within fifty miles of New 
York City are farms on which the grain is still reaped with the 
cradle. Brewer gives IV2 acres a day as the amount of grain 
cradled in this country by one man. It required two others 
to rake, bind and **stook" it. Others say 4 acres a day could 
be cradled by a good worker while another raked and bound it. 



HARVESTING MACHINERy 



The Header. — All reaping devices thus far considered have 
aimed at mechanical advantages alone. All of those subse- 



HARVESTING 



81 



quently discussed endeavor, not only to extend and improve the 
mechanism of the machine so that it will perfonn perfectly each 
and every operation connected with harvesting, but also to 
apply a power that will operate the machine. Under headers 
are included all machines that are designed to gather only the 
heads of the wheat, leaving the straw in the field. Such ma- 
chines are of two kinds; stripping and cutting headers. The 
former has the distinction of being the first grain gathering 




THE GALLIC HEADER, DESCRIBED BY PLINY A. D. 70 



machine mentioned in history. It was used by the farmers of 
Gaul as early as the time of Christ. Pliny described it. A 
series of lance-shaped knives was fastened into one end of a 
large-bodied, two-wheeled cart. An animal yoked behind the 
cart pushed it through the grain. After the heads of the wheat 
were stripped from the stalks by the knives or teeth, they were 
raked into the box-like frame by an attendant. Palladius gives 
a similar account of the machine in the fourth century. 

After being used during hundreds of years, the Gallic header 
disappeared, and it seems to have been completely forgotten 
for several centuries. Only through literature did it escape the 
fate of permanent oblivion and become a heritage for the 
modern woi'ld. The published descriptions of the machine by 
Pliny and Palladius furnished the impulse in which modern 
harvesting inventions oi'iginated. Its distinctive features are 
retained in several modern inventions of this class, machines 



HARVESTING 83 

which have a practical use and value under conditions similar 
to those which existed on the plains of Gaul. Toward the close 
of the eighteenth century, the social, economic and agricultural 
conditions in England, on account of increasing competition and 
the higher value of labor, were ripe for the movement of in- 
vention that Avas heralded by the printed account of the Gallic 
header. The first header was constructed by William Pitt in 
1786. It was an attempted improvement on the ancient ma- 
chine in that the stripping teeth were placed in a cylinder 
which was revolved by power transmitted from the wheels. 
This "rippling cylinder" carried the heads of wheat into the 
box of the machine, and gradually evolved into the present day 
reel. 

Nearly all of the principles involved in the header seem to 
have been developed mainly in connection with other machines, 
such as the reaper and combined harvester, in connection with 
which they will be discussed. Before 1823 only four inventors 
of harvesting machinery placed the power in front of the ma- 
chine. This involves either a side cut or driving the power 
through the grain. On account of the great width of cut in the 
header the side cut v^^ould give great side draft, and as there is 
nothing to counterbalance this, all headers are propelled in 
front of the power. Omitting minor details, the evolution of 
the header was completed in Haines' celebrated machine of 
1849, which was widely known as the "Haines Illinois harves- 
ter." It was thoroughly successful, and was practically the 
same as the machine of today. 

The modern header has a cutter with a reciprocating and ad- 
vancing rectilinear motion; the reel brings the grain upon a 
traveling canvas apron which delivers it to an elevating apron 
on one side, and this in turn discharges it into the header-box 
placed upon a wagon driven along with the machine; it has a 
swiveled steering wheel, operated by a suitable tiller; and an 
evener, to which the four or six animals are hitched, is pivoted 
forward of the steering wheel. The header ordinarily clips the 
stalks a few inches below the heads of the grain, but it can be 
run very low for lodged or short grain. It saves binding and 
shocking, but it is essential for the wheat to be dry before it is 
cut, as it must immediately be either threshed or stacked. If 
slightly damp, green, or weedy, it cannot be threshed at once, 



84 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

and may stack-burn if stacked. This confines the use of the 
lieader largely to the western part of the United States, where 
lieculiiir conditions exist which make it possible to let wheat 
ripen completely without much danger of loss, though the ma- 
chine is used to some extent in the Mississippi valley. Some 
wheat growers cut with binders until the grain is ripe, and 
then use the header. It cuts from 12 to 20 feet in width, and 
from 15 to 50 acres a day. In Washington three headers and 
one threshing machine usually work together. From 50 to 75 
acres a day are thus harvested. Three header-boxes, or barges, 
are usually used with one header. These are often unloaded 
at the stack or machine by horse power. A peculiarly arranged 
netting is laid in the box, and by means of ropes and a derrick 
the whole load is hoisted to the stack or feeder. 

The header was used very extensively on the Pacific coast 
befoi'e the combined harvester came in use. Sixteen-foot 
headers drawn by six mules were used. The grain was usually 
threshed as fast as it was headed. The ordinaiy crew for a 
44-inch cylinder thresher and 26-horse-power engine was as 
follows: Seven headers operated by 42 animals and 14 men; 
21 header-boxes, requiring 42 animals and 21 men ; and at the 
machine there were 11 animals and 32 men ; this made a total of 
95 animals and 67 men. In 1880 such an outfit averaged 3,800 
bushels per day in California. Many headers are in use in 
South America, and a machine similar to an American header 
is also being ixsed in Russia. The stripping header is still used 
in Australia. About 20 per cent of the headers manufactured 
in the United States are sold in foreign countries. 

The Reaper. — Under the reaper are included all machines 
designed to cut the grain and gather it in bunches, gavels, or 
rows. While the header was the first harvesting machine that 
was invented, it was not the subject of so many improvements, 
nor did it have, in modern times, such wide and early pi'actical 
utility as the reaper. The ingenuity of man is well shown by 
the numerous devices that were invented to accomplish the two 
objects of the reaper. Nearly all of these inventions were made 
in England. Two forms of motion were utilized in cutting the 
grain, circular and rectilinear. Both forms shared the contin- 
uous advancing motion of the machine to which they were fas- 
tened. The type now universally used, except in stripping 



HARVESTING 



85 



headers, is a reciprocating rectilinear motion. As perfected, this 
type involves the principles of both the saw and the shears. 

In Pitt's * 'rippling cylinder" were combined the first use of 
the circular motion, the first forerunner of the reel, and the 
first utilization of the principle involved in transmitting power 
from the wheels of the machine to operate some of its parts. 
The latter principle has been utilized in practically all harvest- 
ing machines ever built, excepting some of the combined har- 
vesters constructed since 1903. Some form of the reel is also 
found on every harvesting machine which has had any success. 
In consideration of these facts, Pitt's name holds high rank 
among inventors of harvesting machinery. 

The first patent on a reaping machine was granted in Eng- 
land to Joseph Boyce in 1799. Its only title to fame is priority. 




AN EARLY ENGLISH REAPER INVENTED BY BELL, 1828 

A year later an unsuccessful attempt was made to adopt shears 
as a cutting apparatus. This machine was unique in being 
operated by human power. Outside and inside dividers to 
separate the swath from the grain left standing, now found 
on all harvesting machines, were apparently first used in 1805. 
With Gladstone's machine (1806), the fii'st to be drawn instead 
of pushed, appeared the side cut and the platform upon which 
the severed grain falls. Salmon (1808) first utilized the re- 
ciprocating cutter combined with the advancing motion of the 
machine. His reaper was also the first to have a self-delivering 
apparatus for the gi'ain. Dobbs, a theatrical genius, invented 
a reaper (1841) and introduced it to the public in a play adapt- 



86 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



ed to this purpose. The stage was planted with wheat which 
was harvested by the machine during the course of the play. 
While English genius invented the essential contrivances of 
the reaper, American ingenuity must in the main be accredited 
with the rapid perfection of the machine for practical use. The 
first patent issued in the United States on an invention in this 
line was in 1803. The inventions of Hussey and McCormick 
came before 1835. McCormick 's machine (patented 1834) was 
first used in the harvest of 1831. It was drawn by one horse, 
and seems to have possessed in crude form all of the essentials 




A MODERN SELP-RAKB REAPER 

of a modern reaper. The grain was raked from the platform 
by a man walking behind the machine. Developing the reaper 
of today consisted solely in perfecting contrivances for utilizing 
the principles already discovered. The devices for automatically 
removing the grain from the platform were many, and they 
varied greatly in pi'inciple and crudeness. The revolving vane, 
the first form of which was invented by Hoffhein (1852), finally 
became established as the most advantageous method. 

The reaper was virtually perfected by 1865, but in the United 
States other forms of harvesting machines soon entirely sup- 
planted it in cutting wheat. It is widely used in Europe at 



HARVESTING 



87 



the present time, especially in Russia and France, and nearly 
ail machines of this kind manufactured in the United States are 
sold abroad. A reaping attachment is often used with a binder 
to drop the grain in bunches, and it is also widely used with a 
mower by small farmers in Europe. 

The Self-Binding Harvester. — All machines which deliver the 
grain bound in sheaves, whether it is bound automatically or 
otherwise, are considered as binders. The reaper cut and col- 
lected the grain. This is only a part of the harvesting prob- 
lem, and before this part was fairly solved, inventions began 
to appear seeking by means of an automatic binder to do away 




A MODERN SELF-BINDING HARVESTER 



with the slow and laborious process of hand binding. In the 
case of the binder, discovery and invention must both be 
credited to the United States. Better economic and social con- 
ditions, dearer and scarcer labor, and moi'e level and extensive 
grain fields were the conditions that made all agricultural ma- 
chinery very profitable in the United States, and caused this 
country to outstrip England in the development of harvesting 
machinery. 

Binders have been divided into two classes: Those in which 
the binding device is attached to a machine of the self-rake 
pattern, called the *' low-down" class; and those in which the 
grain is elevated to the binder. Sti'aw, metal strips, wire and 



OO THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

twine were the four types of band with which experiments were 
made. Some machines carried an attendant to do the binding; 
others required an attendant to aid in this; others wei'e auto- 
matic, but the power had to be furnished ; while still others were 
automatic and received their power from the machine. The 
first effort to bind grain by machinery was made by John E. 
Heath of Ohio. His patent (1850) was on a twine or cord 
binder of the low-down type. Next (1850-1851) appeared the 
first machine with men riding on it to bind the grain as it was 
cut. It had a box for carrying the sheaves, the first forerunner 
of the bundle-carrier. Other contrivances that now appeared 
were: The cord knotter (1853); the wire twister (1856); the 
straw braid twister (1857) ; the automatic trip regulating the 
action of the binder and the canvas to elevate the grain over 
the drive wheel (1858) ; and the knotting bill and revolving 
cord holder (1864). 

The Marsh machine began its successful career on the mar- 
ket in 1864, and from this date the ''low-down" type of ma- 
chine had a minor popularity. There is, however, still a suc- 
cessful binder of this type on the market which is unique and 
very popular for certain classes of grain harvesting on smaller 
farms. The Lake Avii'e binder (about 1873) was perhaps the 
first commercially successful automatic binding machine 
brought out. There were, however, serious objections to wire 
binders, for pieces of wire were carried into threshing machines, 
and even into flour mills, where they occasioned fires by coming 
in contact Avith rapidly moving machinery. 

The name best known among pei'sons interested in harvesting 
machines is that of John F. Appleby. He had the genius to 
combine the advantages of preceding inventions with some of 
his own inventions in such a manner as to attain success. The 
Appleby binder on the Marsh frame was an irresistible combi- 
nation that outstripped all competitors, and at once sprang 
into such popular favor that it swept over the world with over- 
whelming rapidity. The problem, at the solution of which 
many inventors had aimed in hundreds of patents during 30 
years, was solved.^ 

1 Ardrey, Amer. Agr. Implements, pp. 64-77; Miller, Evolution 
Reaping Machines, pp. 34-37. 



HARVESTING 89 

The standard binder combines the cutter and draft of the 
reaper with the reel and traveling canvases of the header, and 
adds the automatic device for binding the grain in sheaves, and 
the bundle carrier for collecting them in piles. The operator 
can adjust the reel at will while the machine is in motion. An 
endless canvas on the platform of the machine conveys the cut 
grain to two similar canvases, between which the grain is ele- 
vated to the opposite side of the drive wheel. It is there re- 
ceived and packed into a bundle by the binding device. As the 
size of the bundle inci'eases, the resulting pressure trips the 
binder, which binds automatically as often as it is tripped. The 
pressure required for this, an I consequently the size of the 
bundle, can be regulated. While in operation, the entire ma- 
chine can be adjusted • to variations in the grain and in the 
levelness of the field. The most usual width of cut is 6 feet, but 
machines cutting different widths are made. One man with 
three horses will harvest from 10 to 20 acres per day with the 
binder, and it requires two other men to shock what is cut. A 
bonanza farmer expects such an outfit to cut 250 acres in a 
season. On the Dalrymple fai'ms of Dakota, binders with 7-foot 
cut are used, and about 15 are run in one crew. Each crew or 
gang has its overseer. A wagon follows with water, twine and 
other articles, while a gang of shockers set up the wheat as fast 
as it is cut. In the United States the binder is used in every 
state which raises wheat, while abroad it is used quite extensive- 
ly in England, Russia, Germany, France and parts of South 
America, and to a less extent in other countries where Avheat 
is grown. 

The Header-Binder is the most recent development in binders, 
and is, as the name suggests, merely a binder attached to the 
header. It has the wide cut of the header and the grain can 
be cut in the same condition as with a binder or reaper. These 
machines lia'^e found quite extensive favor in the Dakotas, Kan- 
sas, Oklahoma, on the Pacific coast, and in Argentina. 

In binding wheat, a 10,000-acre fai-m uses two carloads of 
twine in a single harvest, an amount that would lay a line 
around the whole coast of England, Ireland and Scotland. It is 
estimated that the United States consumes annually from 
110,000 to 120,000 tons of binder twine. 



90 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Shocking. — We found in a previous chapter that the ripening 
process in wheat involves a transfer of material from the straw 
to the grain. If the grain is cut before it is dead ripe, as is 
usually the case, this transferring process is not completed at 
harvest. Under these circumstances the completion of the 
ripening process is greatly aided by prompt shocking and cap- 
ping, and loss will result if the grain is not thus protected 
from the hot sun and wind. This purpose is best accomplished 
by round shocks with caps. If the sheaves are large, or if the 
grain is green or weedy, it is customary to put 12 bundles in a 
shock. Their disposition is as follows : Three pairs are placed in 
a row; two bundles are then placed on each side of the row; 
the eleventh bundle is placed on top of the shock, and the 
twelfth, after its ends have been spread fan-shape, is placed 
crosswise of the eleventh. In a shock of 16 bundles, the disposi- 
tion is the same, only that four pairs are placed in the row, and 
three in each side. A method of shocking that is quicker and more 
advantageous when the grain is practically ripe at cutting con- 
sists of placing any convenient number of pairs of bundles in a 
row. In any method, efficiency and economy of time demand that 
two sheaves be handled at once. 

Combined Harvesters include all combinations of machines de- 
signed to leave both straw and chart' in the field and to deliver 
the Avheat cleaned ready for market. The combined harvester 
is the culmination of the modern movement of discoveries and 
inventions pertaining to harvesting machinery. With this ma- 
chine the wheat is cut, gathered, threshed, cleaned, and even 
sacked without a single touch from the human hand. On one 
side the gTain is cut, and on the other side it is dropped at regu- 
lar intervals in piles of filled and tied sacks, ready for the 
market. Every operation, except sewing u-p the sacks, is me- 
chanically and automatically performed by the application of 
horse or steam power. In economy, in capacity and thorough- 
ness of work, in perfection of mechanical construction, and in 
ease of oj^eration, thei'e is apparently little more to be attained. 
The combined harvester can be used advantageously in a dry 
climate only, where there is little fear of rain, and no great 
dews, which should be off before the middle of the forenoon. 
It also cannot be used where the grain is moistened by the 
damp breath of the ocean, as in western Ox'egon. 



HARVESTING 91 

Ridley, an Englishman residing in Australia, invented a com- 
bined harvester in 1845 which employed the principle of the 
ancient machine of Gaul and attracted considerable attention. 
This type of combined harvester, commonly known as the 
''stripper," is still used in Australia, and is especially adapted 
to the dry harvest seasons prevalent in that country. Strip- 
pers have been manufactured in Canada and in the United 
States. They have been tried in California and Washington, 
but the atmospheric conditions did not seem suited to them. 
In Argentina, however, their introduction seems quite suc- 
cessful. 

This machine strips the heads from the stalks of standing 
wheat by means of a comb resembling the oi'dinary sickle guard 
in appearance. Directly above the rear of the comb is a drum 
about 18 inches in diameter in which works a rapidly revolving 
beater which aids the comb in the decapitating process and fur- 
nishes a draft which carries the heads up into the threshing 
cylinder. This consists of teeth revolving within stationary 
teeth, and the threshing is more of a rubbing than a battering 
process. From the cylinder the grain and straw pass to the 
sieves over a vibrating metal table. Imperfectly threshed 
grains are returned to the cylinder. The straw and chaff is 
discharged at the rear of the machine, and the winnowed grain 
is carried to the top of the machine by a belt and cup ele- 
vator. Here the grain is screened. The screenings and the 
perfect grain pass to separate bins, from which they are bagged. 
A receiving box drops the bags in piles of four or five. Some of 
the machines discharge the straw and chaff under the middle 
of the machine, and fill the bags automatically. 

The stripper can be used only in wheat that is ripe, dry, and 
free from weeds, for otherwise the grain will not thresh clean 
and the machine will clog. It is suited only to non-shattering 
wheat, which is not lost in the operation of harvesting. The 
expense of harvesting in this manner is estimated to be from 
one-fifth to one-half that of binding and threshing wheat. With 
a boy to ride the lead horse, one man can operate the machine, 
and from four to seven horses can easily draw it. A machine 
taking a five-foot swath will cover from 6 to 10 acres per day. 
In 1902 the price of these machines was $750 gold in Argentina, 
but it has since been reduced. 



92 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

The combined harvesters used in the United States are re- 
stricted by climate to the Pacific coast, and may be divided into 
two classes on the basis of the power used, whether animal or 
steam. In the work and operation of these two classes of 
machines, there is, in the main, only a difference in capacity. 
The standard horse-power machine cuts a swath from 16 to 20 
feet wide; is drawn by 24 to 40 horses; harvests from 25 to 45 
acres of wheat per day; and requires four men to operate it. 
It requires a machine man to regulate the cutting bar and look 
after the machine in general; a steersman, a man to manipulate 
the sacks and tie them, and a driver. This is the most advan- 
tageous harvester to use on the smaller farms, those having less 
than 3,000 acres. It was used successfully before 1880, but its 
sale and manufacture in a commercial way did not begin until 
1885. 

The Steam Harvester has a cutting bar from 24 to 42 feet 
long, requires eight men to opei'ate it, and harvests from 75 to 
125 acres per day at a cost of from 30 to 50 cents per acre, 
which is the cost of the mere twine with which the sheaves are 
bound when the wheat is harvested with a binder. The traction 
engine or motive power is independent of the harvester proper. 
An auxiliary engine is mounted on the frame of the harvester. 
Steam conveyed to this engine from the boiler of the traction 
engine constitutes the driving power for running the cylinder, 
separator, header, and recleaner, ''the effect being a steady and 
uniform motion of all parts at all times and in all conditions of 
the grain and at any speed at which the harvester may be 
traveling." 

The traction engine is 110 horse-power, has double engines, 
and nine to 12-inch cylinders. The driving or carrying wheels 
are eight feet in diametei', and have a width of 32, 40 or GO 
inches, according to the natui'e of the ground on which the 
machine is to be operated. This style of outfit is used very 
largely on the reclaimed tule lands. The separator has a cylin- 
der from 26 to 40 inches in length. The mechanism of the 
machine is so perfected that the feeder, cylinder, grain carrier, 
shoe, and all cleaning devices remain in a level position upon 
uneven land and no matter how the machine is set. Thus under 
all conditions the machine does substantially the same work as 
upon a dead level. 



HARVESTING 93 

The greatest width machine that was ever put out was an 
experimental one of 52 feet. It was built b> a farmer, and 
was not a succesb on account of its construction. While suc- 
cessful machines with a width of 40 and 42 feet have been 
turned out, there are two standard large size machines, both 
smaller. One cuts a width of 25 feet, while the other consists 
of a 22-foot header with a 12-foot extension, making 34 feet in 
all. The machines of a greater width can scarcely be considered 
as a single machine. They consist of a regular cut of about 
16 feet, with an addition of about 12 feet, making 28 feet for 
the machine proper. Then an independent header pushed by 
horses delivers to the outer canvas, thus making the 42 feet. 
Such an outfit is used only in the very lightest crop, and its 
exceptional cut is of advantage, not only in covering more 
ground, but also in keeping the thresher and cleaner sufficiently 
supplied with grain to insure the best work. The manufac- 
turers claim that "the steam harvester can handle grain in al- 
most any condition, whether it is standing, lodged, tangled or 
overgrown with weeds. ' ' 

A Complete Outfit for thus harvesting grain consists of trac- 
tion engine, auxiliary engine, thresher, header, water-tank 
wagon and cook-house. The average price of such an outfit is 
about $7,500. The great expense and capacity of these ma- 
chines make them suitable only for the larger farms, those 
containing from 3,000 to 20,000 acres of land. The steam com- 
l)ined harvester was put on the market in a commercial way in 
1892. The average life of the machine is from 8 to 15 years. 
The great advantages of this machine are economy in time and 
power on account of combining so many operations in one, the 
rapidity with which grain may be marketed after it is ripe, the 
small amount of human labor required, the diminution of risk 
from fire, and the waste of grain which is avoided. 

It is a Pacific coast production and its sale is at present con- 
fined almost exclusively to that section of the world. It is the 
typical machine of the ** Inland Empire," a name applied to all 
of the Pacific northwest east of the Cascades and SieiTas. At 
least two-thirds of the wheat of California is reaped with the 
combined harvester. It is a novel, interesting and picturesque 
valley scene to see this pondei'ous harvester sweeping through 
miles upon miles of ripened wheat, devouring swaths from 16 to 



94 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

42 feet in width, raising its cloud of yellow dust, and leaving 
behind a long train of sacked grain, ready to be hauled to the 
warehouse, railroad, or mill. It is estimated that 3.000 com- 
bined harvesters were operated on the Pacific coast in 1903. 

THRESHING. 

Threshing is the operation of separating the grain from the 
chaff and straw. It is perhaps an entirely safe pi'oposition'to 
say that this has been accomplished in every imaginable man- 
ner. Perels states that the oldest method of threshing was by 
utilizing animals in tramping out the grain, but the flail, ac- 
cording to the same author, was known in grayest antiquity in 
a form similar to that of the present day. Both methods have 
been used in modern times. It is more pi'obable that the first 
grain was shelled by hand, and that the first advance was to 
an auxiliary implement, a staff or rod with which the heads 
were pounded. The heads were also whipped across sticks or 
poles. The flail was early invented by attaching a club to the 
staff. The wind was the first fanning mill, the grain being 
thrown up so that the chaff would be blown away. The same 
forces, gravity and a current of air, are still utilized. The only 
improvements have been in the manner in which they are ap- 
plied and in the addition of the screen. 

Horses were used to tramp out the grain in early times in the 
United States, or a great roller with large wooden pins was 
dragged over the grain. These methods were still used in this 
country in 1835 or 1840. From 23 to 30 bushels per day for 
three horses, a man and a boy wei-e the usual results. This 
method is still often used in Russia, Avhere, in cleaning the 
wheat, the '' shovel and wind" plan is utilized for the chaff, 
and a sieve 3 or 4 feet in diameter is used for removing weed 
seeds and grading the grain. In Spain and Syria, the thresh- 
ing is also frequently accomplished by driving oxen or horses 
over the grain. The same method is occasionally found in re- 
mote parts of Argentina. Even in New Mexico one could find 
grain reaped with the sickle and threshed by the trampling 
of goats as late as 1899. 

The Flail. — Where this implement was used, thi'eshing was 
the chief farm work of winter. The flail was not rare in 



HARVESTING 95 

the United States as late as 1830, was common in Great Britain 
until 1850, and was still used in Germany in 1872. It is used 
now in parts of Europe where the holdings are very small or 
the peasants poor, notably in Russia. From 8 to 12 bushels of 
wheat was considered a good average day's work. 

The Second Method of Applying Animal Power to threshing 
was by drawing over the grain an implement made rough on the 
bottom. It has been used in Egypt from ancient to present 
times, and consists of a wooden frame with three cross bars or 
axles on which are fixed circular iron plates. In ancient times 
the grain was usually at the circumference of the circle over 
which the machine was di'awn, but now it is stacked in the 
center. It was called the noreg, and another form was known 
as the charatz. The moreg of the Hebrews was a similar de- 
vice, and the old Roman devices corresponding to these in- 
ventions were the traka and tribula. Italy and some of the east' 
ern countries still use substantially the same implement. A 
knifeboard construction known as the trilla is used in Spain. 

The Evolution of Modern Threshing Machines. — During the 
eighteenth century three Scotchmen made separate inventions 
that led up to the modern threshing machine. Michael Menzies 
came first (1732). He contrived to drive a large number of 
flails by water power. It was called a "wonderful invention," 
"capable of giving 1,320 strokes per minute, as many as 33 men 
threshing briskly," and as "moved by a great water wheel and 
triddles." Its only contribution was to demonstrate the im- 
practicability of the flail motion. About 1758 a Scotch farmer 
named Lackie invented a rotary machine which could thresh 
dry oats, but in wheat it merely knocked off the heads. Its 
value lay in showing the superiority of the rotary motion, and 
it was the first suggestion of the modern cylinder. The first 
machine of the modern type was invented by Andrew Meikle in 
1786, patented in 1788, and completed in 1800 by the addition 
of a fanning mill. This was the first machine to thresh, clean, 
and deliver the grain in one operation. 

The early machines wei'e driven by water, or worked by 
horses, though wind power was also used. "Cider mill" hoi'se- 
powers were most frequently used at first. Tread or railway 
powers came next, and soon afterward, the sweep powers. All 
of the earlv threshers were stationary. The first threshing by 



96 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

steam was in 1803. The first machines to be successfully 
placed upon the market wei'e open-cylinder threshers, known 
under various names, as ''chaff-pilers," "bob-tails," "ground- 
hogs," and "bull-threshers." They simply threshed the grain 
and did not clean or separate it. H. A. Pitts (1834) success- 
fully combined the "ground-hog" with the common fanning 
mill in portable form. He and his brother patented (1837) the 
original of the great type of "endless apron" or "great belt" 
separators. 

Threshing machines were first brought into general use in 
Great Britain. Many were introduced from 1810 to 1820. In 
the southern counties of England, the machines were the ob- 
ject of popular attack, and in many districts the farmers were 
obliged to abandon such as had been erected. Pusey wrote 
in 1851: "Oi^en air threshing may appear visionary; but it 
is quite common with the new machinery. ' ' The coal burnt by 
the best engines per hoi'se power per hour was 28 pounds in 
1847. Four years later it was less than one-fourth as much. 
Steam was soon universally used for threshing in England. 
The first "bull-threshers" were used in the United States about 
1825. They spread rapidly until 1835, when separating devices 
had been added. Five years later little threshing was done by 
other means. Horse power was used exclusively, and it was 
not until about 1876 that steam power began to come into use. 

In Germany there were many lever "hand threshing ma- 
chines" in use in 1850. Two men worked the lever, and a third 
fed the grain, but these three laborers could thresh more grain 
with less labor by using the flail, while the machine also cut up 
the straw and wheat.^ By 1872 steam threshing had well begun 
to drive out other methods of threshing in Germany. In 1854 
a steam engine of three-horse power threshed 160 bushels of 
wheat in a day. Similar engines up to nine-horse power ex- 
isted, and they threshed more grain. An American machine 
threshed 25 bushels per hour in the early sixties. In 1876 a 
steam thresher operated by 18 hands threshed well 2,000 bushels 
of wheat in one day. The bulk of the grain was always quite 
easily threshed from the straw. The great difficulty was to 
save the little that was usually left. It was estimated that from 
5 to 10 per cent of the wheat was left in the straw by hand 
threshing. 

^ Perels, Bedeutung- des Masrhinenwesens, pp. 25-27. 



HARVESTING 97 

Practically all threshing in the United States is now done by 
steam. The musical hum of the machines, which could be 
heard for miles, and which possessed a peculiar fascination that 
always charmed the threshermen, accompanied the sweep pow- 
ers with gearing and tumbling rods to their oblivion. The side 
gear driving the cylinder of the separator made most of the 
noise. When this gear was cut off to give place to the belt 
pulley, the noise was reduced to a minimum, although the hum 
of the cylinder is still maintained. A few farmers own their 
own machines, but generally the threshing is done for a stated 
price per bushel by the itinerant outfit. In some sections the 
farmers still exchange work in the threshing, while in others 
the whole crew travels with the outfit. The faiTuer then simply 
takes care of the grain. On the smaller farms, 500 to 1000 
bushels are threshed per day. 

On the large farms, whether the grain is bound or headed, the 
last day of harvesting is the first day of threshing. If bound, 
the grain is not stacked, as it generally is on the smaller farms, 
but is threshed from the field. It is usually considered fit to 
thresh after it has cured in the shock for about ten days. When 
Avheat is stacked, it begins to ''sweat" about three days after 
stacking, and the process is over in about three or four weeks. 
It has been claimed that this is beneficial to the wheat in that 
it is fed from the straw, and that the berries thus become 
plumper and heavier and also acquire a better color. English 
writers seem to say nothing concerning this process of sweat- 
ing. The northwestern wheat growers of the United States 
claimed that the wheat would sweat in the bin if this process 
had not taken place in the stack before threshing. When it is 
dried by seasonable cutting and threshing, however, it is very 
questionable if it can sweat or heat in the bin.' 

The Modern Threshing Machine has a self-feeder, a band- 
cutter, and an automatic straw-stacker. There are also auto- 
matic weighing attachments. The grain is pitched upon the 
self-feedei', and the machine performs all the other operations. 
There are two forms of automatic stackers, the swinging stacker 
with rake to elevate the straw, and the wind stacker, in which 
the straw is forced through a long air-tight chute by a blast 

1 U. S Dept. Asr , Spec. Rept. No. 40, p. 30; Hunt, Cereals in 
America (1904), p.l07. 



98 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



from a fan within the machine. But even with 'Milowers," as 
the latter are called, the straw pile often becomes awkwardly 
high, and the machine is moved from it. Sometimes the straw 
is also dragged away by horses hitched to a large rack, an op- 
eration which is called ''bucking the straw." The cleaned 
grain is delivered from the machine throngh a spout. On the 
bonanza farms it is run into grain tanks holding about 150 
bushels, which are hauled to the elevators or railroads, by 
four-horse teams. About 30 men are employed with each ma- 
chine, and they thresh and haul away from 2,000 to 3,000 bushels 
per day; 1,300 acres is the minimum capacity of one machine. 
Ordinarily it will thresh 2,400 acres, 2,500 acres require two 
machines, and 6,500 acres require three. Straw is usually 
burned in the engine. During the season of 1903 one of the 




SECTION OF A MODERN THRESHING MACHINE 

largest threshers in Kansas turned out 3,500 bushels of wheat 
in 9 hours and 45 minutes. This seems to be the usual maxi- 
mum. Only 4 men are required to operate this machine. It 
takes 18 men and 10 two-horse wagons to bi'ing the shocked 
wheat to the thresher. The largest amount of wheat which the 
writer has found recorded as being threshed in one day is 6,183 
bushels in 1879. The work was done under the most favorable 
circumstances by a steam thresher having a 48-inch cylinder. ' 

A complete threshing outfit consists of a traction engine 
(which also hauls the whole outfit from place to place), a 
separator, a straw or coal wagon, a water wagon, a "cook- 
shack," and a sleeping tent. The cook-shack, a product of 
the west, is a small house on wheels which serves as a kitchen 
> lOth U. S. Census. 3:457. 



HARVESTING 



99 



and dining room. In the early fall before it is too cold, the 
men often sleep upon the straw in the open air. 

Distribution and Manufacture of Machinery. — The figures of 
the following table pertain to the United States only. A 
summary of patents on machinery which does not include ma- 
chines used exclusively in industries other than that of wheat 
is not available. Over 2,000 patents were on wheat harvesters 
and over 3,000 on wheat threshers. The figures on the sales 
are to a certain extent approximations. 



* 


Patents 
granted 
before 
1902' 


Average 

sale 

per 

year^ 


Per cent of 

machines 

sold 

abroad^ 


Plows 


11,625 
5,774 
8,566 

11,258 

4,951 


? 
? 
? 
35,000 to 
40,000 
150,000 to 
225,000 
4,000 
200 
25 
? 


> 




? 


Seeders and Planters 

Reapers 

Binders ■ 

Headers and Header Binders 

Combined Harvesters (horse power) 


? 

75 

IS 
20 

? 

? 


Threshers 


? 



Little attention has been given to the export trade of the 
combined harvester, principally because the capacity of the 
manufacturers has been taxed to the utmost to fill home orders. 
Machines have been shipped, however, to Australia, Argentina 
and Spain, and though they work fairly well, the people do 
not take kindly to them. They lack the proper amount of in- 
telligence to operate the machines with the best results, a 
difficulty not experienced to any great degree in the Unit'ed 
States. Argentina, Paraguay anJ Uruguay have taken most of 
the machines that have been exported to South America, about 
one-fourth of the total exports. Another one-fourth has gone 
to the colonies of Australia and New Zealand, and the others 
have gone mainly to European countries. Many also go to 
Canada; 718,113 binders were sent there during the 9 months 
ending March 31, 1903. Over two-thirds of the exports are 
mow^ers and reapers. As many as 9,000 tons of machines have 
been shipped abroad in a single steamer. 

' Census Bui. 200, 1902, p. 17. - Letters by competent observers. 



CHxiPTER VI. 
YIELD AND COST OF PRODUCTION 

YIELD. 

Factors Increasing Yield.— As farming- methods are improved, 
the yield of wheat per acre is being increased. Some of the 
main factors causing the increase are: (1) The use of drills in 
seeding results in gi'eater immunity against drought and winter- 
killing, especially if press drills are used; (2) crop rotation; 
(3) improved methods in plowing and cultivation; (4) improve- 
ment of seed by natural and artificial selection, and by hybi'idi- 
zation; (5) fertilizing; (6) irrigation; and (7) tile drainage. 

Factors Decreasing Yield. — Nearly all of the factors just 
mentioned are inoperative in a new country, for their product 
gives intensive cultivation, while extensive cultivation is always 
characteristic of a new country under ordinary conditions. The 
yield is always low imder extensive methods of farming. Such 
methods lower the fertility of the soil and a further decrease in 
yield results. The rapid improvement in farm machinery has 
favored extensive cultivation. It has also cheapened the cost 
of production, so that comparatively poor grades of land which 
it was previously unprofitable to work can now be farmed at a 
fair rate of profit. The operation of these factors is pei-haps 
best shown by the wheat statistics of Australia. 

From 1873 to 1898 the acreage of all the provinces of Aus- 
tralia except that of Tasmania increased, in some very greatly, 
Avhile in every province (except Tasmania, where there was a 
decrease in acreage until the last eight years of the period), 
the yield decreased, in some cases over one-third. During the 
ninth decade in New South Wales the increase in acreage was 
slight and the decrease in yield insignificant, but in the next 
eight years the acreage increased nearly fourfold, while the 
yield fell off about one-third. The apparent lack of correlation 
between increase in acreage and decrease in yield in one or two 
of the provinces is doubtless due to some other factors. 

The yield of wheat per acre in different countries is shown 
in the following table." Figures in parentheses show limits to 



YIELD AND COST OF PRODUCTION 



101 



which acx'eage had increased or decreased by end of decade, 
in round thousands. The bushel is the unit in this table. * 

















Av. 


Av. 




1860 


1870 


1880 


1890 


1900 


1904 


1894 

to 

1898 

14!o 

32/9 

19^8 

9.3 

25.7 

17.6 


1899 

to 
1904 


United States 

United Kingdom. 


(15,000) 
9.92 

16.6 


(18,000) 

11.9 
(3,831) 

(349) 

(166) 

(i) 

(25) 
(784) 

(58) 
(132) 

10^3 


(37,000) 

12.4 

(3,065) 

25.4 

(977) 

12.7 

(252) 

14.5 

(10) 

15.0 

(27) 

12.4 

(1,733) 

8.3 

(50) 

17.9 

(324) 

27.0 

16.4 

7.95 

18.25 

14.15 

12.15 

13/75 


(36,000) 

11.8 
(2,483) 

28.5 
(1,145) 

10.1 

(333) 

14.3 

(10) 

11.0 

(33) 

11.5 

(1,673) 

6.4 

(39) 

18.0 

(301) 

24.5 

17.9 
6.5 

21.5 

19.8 

12.1 

14.7 

15.5 

9^2 


(42,000) 

13.3 
(2,158) 

32.6 
(2,154) 

8.0 
(1,319) 

10.6 

(46) 

14.9 

(74) 

10.5 

(1,788) 

4.6 

(85) 

18.8 

(339) 

24.2 

18.1 
8.0 

27.9 

17.3 

11.5 

10.5 

14.3 

12.7 

10.7 


(47,854)3 
14.5 

2777 

IS. 6 
11.4 
29.4 
16.3 
11.8 
10.6 
16.8 
12.1 
10.1 


13/7 
32/4 


Victoria -.... 

New S. Wales.... 

Queensland 

West'n Aust'a.. 
South Aust'a... 




New Zealand... 


20 8 


European Rus'a.. 


9.7 
28 1 




17 6 


Italy 

























France is a good example of an older country where the 
yield is being increased by intensive cultivation. In 1840 
the yield was 14.6 bushels per acre, and in 1850, 15.6. The 
constant and regular rise in the yield per acre for nearly three 
quarters of a century in France is remarkable. The acreage 
rose gradually from about 12,500,000 acres in 1831 to about 
17,500,000 acres in 1898. If poorer wheat land was brought 
under cultivation, the advance in methods of culture more than 
counterbalanced its effect. It is very interesting to compare 
the United Kingdom with France. The data cover the years 
from 1871 to 1898 inclusive. In this period the acreage of the 

1 Data taken from Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1902, 1905. Mo. 
Summary of Commerce and Finance, Jan.. 1900, pp. 2039-2065. U. S. 
Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 42, 1906, p. 26. 

= 1866. 

3 1905. 

* All dates for Australia begin in 1873 and end in 1898. 

5 1883. 



102 THK BOOK OF WHEAT 

United Kingdom decreased over one-third Avliile tlie yield in- 
creased one-sixth. In the same period the acreage of France in- 
creased about one-eleventh, Avhile the yield increased less than 
one-ninth. Presumably both countries made approximately the 
same advance in the arts, that is, in methods of production. It 
does not appear that there ever was a case where an advance in 
the arts supplanted with wheat a crop more profitable than 
wheat was before the advance. In increasing her acreage France 
had to utilize lands of lower yield, thus reducing the average 
3'ield of all, while the United Kingdom raised the average by 
exactly the opposite process, namely, by reducing her acreage 
in ceasing to sow to wheat those lands of such a low yield as to 
be unprofitable. 

In the United States the causes and effects cannot be traced 
easily or clearly. We see that the gi'eatest increase in acre- 
age was in the eighth decade, but this acreage was located in the 
Mississippi and Red river valleys. It consisted of some of the 
most fertile land of our country, and proved to be better wheat 
land than any which had previously been sown in that grain. 
Consequently, it was but natural that the yield should rise, es- 
pecially as there had been but little intensive farming. The 
rise in yield would doubtless have been constant since that date, 
had it not been for abnormal natural conditions which seem to 
have decreased the actual yield slightly in the ninth decade, al- 
though the potential yield has increased uninterruptedly. Since 
the ninth decade the increase in acreage has been comparatively 
rapid, doubtless largely due to great improvements in machin- 
ery, but the arts have advanced rapidly enough to more than 
counteract these results. The average yield from 1866 to 1886 
was 12.2 bushels per acre, while that from 1886 to 1906 was 
13.7. There is such a great annual variation in yield that 
statistics are not conclusive unless they are averages extending 
over at least a decade. 

Columella gives 19.5 to 27 bushels as the amount of wheat 
that the Romans raised per acre. From 1200 to 1500 England 
raised 4 to 8 bushels per acre, while she raises about 30 now. 
The testimony of a contemporary observer shows the yield of 
wheat near Philadelphia in 1791 to have averaged less than 8 
bushels per acre. It is now more than twice that amount. The 
greatest yield of Avheat in the United States seems to be in the 



YIELD AND COST OF PRODUCTION 



103 



Pacific northwest. This is perhaps partly due to the ideal 
■weather prevailing there. A long, wet winter with little frost; 
a cool, wet spring, gradually fading away into the warmer sum- 
mer; only light rains after blossoming; abundant sunshine and 
rather dry air toward harvest; and dry weather for harvest 
seem to be the most favorable weather conditions for the 
maximum yield. Sixty to 70 bushels per acre were harvested, 
even in the sixties. A volunteer crop may give 25 to 30 bushels. 

COST OP PRODUCTION. 

The itemized cost of raising an acre of wheat in different lo- 
calities and years is given in the table below: 



Date 



Cost of raising per bu. 
Preparing land : Alisc 

Plowing 

Harrowing 

Seeding: 

Drilling or Seeding. 

Seed 

Harvesting & Thresh 
Harvesting 

Cutting and Twine. 

Twine 

Shocking 

Stacking 

Thresh. & Market 

Thresh. & put in bin.. 

Threshing 

FertiHzing 

Int. on land: (ins.) 

Int. on mch'ry, etc 

Interest 

Tax 



Total Cost $8.29 



$0.52 
0.18 
0.64 
0.18 



0.09 
0.89 



2.12 



0.39 
0.89 



1903 



$0.26 

i'.oo 



0.25 
0.45 



1.25 



$0.24 



0.80 
0.40 



$0.37 
1.24 
0.96 
0.28 
0.92 



1.60 



1.80 1.90 
0.201 0.29 
2.00 



$7.80 $7.20 $7.31 



> 






Pi 


•o 


■- 




C 


d 


•o 


c 


a 








Pi 


§ 


S 


1902 


90-00 


1880 


$0.46 


$0.64 
1.15 


$0.35 


0.70 

1 


1.00 
0.15 


0.31 


1 1.00 


1.05 




( 


0.30 


0.03 


J 


0.75 


1.00 


6!6() 






i'.90 
0.75 

6! 15 
1.00 
0.90 


6^65 


1.50 








0.60 


1.25 


ligs 


1^40 




2!28 






0.25 


0.30 




$8.28 


$6.40 


$7.00 



1873 



$0.92 



1601 



4.00 
4.00 



$11.60 



$0.42 
3.19 
1.74 
1.45 



1250 



2.17 
6!'72 



2.17 

$8^5 



0.33 
0,03 
0.22 



0.09 



1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 27, pp. 56-59. 

■-■ Eastman, Rev. of Revs., 28:198. 

" lietter, H. Haynes; loc. cit., & Spokesman-Review, Wash., Oct. 
1. 1903. 

* Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr., p. 12, 1902. 

■'■■ Encv. Brit., 10th ed., 1:217. 

« Indus. Com., 10:707. Also U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 
48, 1906, p. 54. 

' Atlantic Mo., 45:34-35. 

s U. S. Agr. Rept., p. 369, 1873. 

» Hartlib, Legacy of Husb.; Rogers. Hist. Agr. & Prices, Eng., 
4:493. 

'» Henley, Walter L., quoted in Rogers, loc. cit., 1:270. 




IM 



YIELD AND COST OP PRODUCTION 105 

The variations in these accounts suggest the difficulties inci- 
dent to obtaining reliable figures. The cost of production varies 
at different times and on different farms. In most cases it is 
impossible to give a reliable average, for the statistics are want- 
ing. According to the table, Argentina can raise an acre of 
wheat at the same cost as that of the Red river valley in the 
United States. The average cost of raising an acre of wheat in 
Russia is about $8. 

There are also many accounts of the cost of raising wheat 
which are not itemized, and consequently still less reliable. In 
the United States cost varies greatly in different sections. In 
Washington it is from 20 to 35 cents a bushel. In Oregon 20 
cents is recorded. It is not likely that this price can include 
interest on capital, in any section. In North Dakota 50 to 54 
cents is the cost; $5.72 per acre is also given for this state, not 
including interest on land. The running expenses averaged 
$3.77 in South Dakota from 1894 to 1900 ^inclusive. The total 
expense in Minnesota is $6.40.* In the eai'ly nineties the ex- 
pense of raising an acre of wheat was $7.50 in Arkansas, from 
$6.13 to $10.32 in Nebraska, and $10.38 in experiments in Wy- 
oming. Where wheat was the sole crop, $10 was given as a 
total average cost per acre in the United States on a farm of 
160 acres in 1882. It is claimed that the shores of the Great 
Lakes could raise wheat at 15 cents per bushel before 1850, 
while the river counties of Illinois raised wheat for 30 cents, 
including hire of land and all expense. 

The cost of raising a bushel of wheat in England was given as 
$1.76 in 1821 and $1.45 in 1885. In the black-earth region of 
Russia the cost of producing wheat, including rent, was said to 
range from 35 to 73 cents per bushel during the last part of the 
nineteenth century. In the first quarter of that century the 
cost, exclusive of rent, was given as 97 cents. The average cost 
in Russia during the years 1899 to 1903 inclusive, not including 
expense of rent and seed, varied from 34 to 48 cents per bushel 
for spring wheat. ' Poggi says that the cost of a bushel of 
wheat in Italy is 69 cents, its production being at a 
loss. He criticises others who state its cost as only 44 cents, 
and who say that it can be profitably produced. " In Hungary 

1 Indus. Com., 10;ccxv. 

= U. S. Dept. A^r., Bureau of Sta., Bui. 42 (1906), pp. 85-6. 

= Atti del In.stituto Veneto. etc.. Tomo Ivi, 7th s.. T. ix. p. 723. 



106 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

the cost is from 52 to 63 cents per bushel, or from $10.58 to 
$12.79 per acre, not including land rent. In Gei-many the cost 
is 95 cents per bushel. It costs 65 cents a bushel to raise 
wheat in India, but according to rather extensive data col- 
lected by the department of agriculture of that country the 
cost was exactly half this amount in 1884. The average an- 
nual cost of cultivating an acre of land in England rose from 
about $17.45 in 1790 to about $34.90 in 1813.' Threshing wheat 
by flail in that country cost about 8 cents a bushel. By the 
old system of horse-power machines, it cost about 5 cents, 
and by steam this was reduced to 2 cents. 

The cost of raising wheat in the United States has not been 
reduced so greatly in the older wheat states as in the new 
states of the west, where the level and extensive farms give 
the greatest opportunity for the use of labor-saving ma- 
chinery. For example, the combined harvester saves from 3.6 
to 5.4 cents a bushel on the cost of hai'vesting with the header 
alone. 

The Profit on Raising Wheat usually is not large, and it 
has often been denied that there is any profit at all. " Under 
the most favorable average conditions the bonanza farmers 
of the Red river valley do not make a net pi'ofit of over $3.32 
per acre, or 8 per cent on the capital invested. ^ In England 
before the plague of 1332-1333 a lord possessing feudal rights 
over all the land in a manor made a profit of about 18 per 
cent on agricultural operations. After the plague, 1350-1351, 
profits were very low, at the best less than 4 per cent on the 
capital invested in the estate. Hartlib gives the profit on an 
acre of wheat in the middle of ' the seventeenth century as 
about $9. In order that there may be any profit in raising 
wheat in Argentina it is said that the yield must exceed 10 or 
12 bushels per acre. 

Amount of Labor Required. — About 1775 in the United States 
it was 3 days' work to cut 100 bushels of wheat, to bind and 
''stook" it took 4 days, while threshing and cleaning re- 
quired 5 days more. In all, it required about 15 days of 
hard manual labor to get 100 bushels through these processes. 

1 Lowe Pres. State of Eng., p. 153. 

= Indu.s. Com., Vol. 10. 

3 Ency. Brit., 10th ed.. 1:217. 



YIELD AND COST OP PRODUCTION 107 

Thus it took about 1 hour and 45 minutes of human labor to 
harvest and thresh each bushel. These figures of Brewer are 
too small, however, as compared with those given by the de- 
partment of labor for 1830. According to the latter figures 
it required 2 hours and 32 minutes at that time for the same 
operations. In 1896, by the use of the combined harvester, 
this time had been reduced to 5.6 minutes. The cost of human 
labor per bushel had declined from 15 cents to 2.2 cents. The 
entire time of human labor necessary to produce one bushel of 
wheat, including sowing, reaping and thi'eshing, fell from 3 hours 
and 3 minutes in 1830 to 10 minutes in 1896. In the same period 
of time the cost of human labor per bushel fell fi'om 17% 
cents to 3 1-3 cents. The cost of both animal and human labor 
fell from 20 cents to less than 10 cents. The greatest saving 
has been in harvesting. The human labor which does remain 
is quite light compared to that of 1830. This reduction in 
cost of production represented a saving of about $91,000,000 
for the United States on the wlieat crop of 1907. 



CHAPTER VII. 
CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 

CROP ROTATION. 

The Effects of Continuous Cropping. — Different crops re- 
move from and contribute to the soil elements of different 
kinds or in different proportions. The availability of plant 
food is also influenced. Continuously raisin": one crop tends to 
exhaust the soil of the food elements available for that crop. 
In a rotation of crops these effects are not so manifest. Some 
crops also contribute to the soil elements needed by others, as, 
for example, leguminous plants fix nitrogen which becomes 
available for wheat the next year. A rotation involves differ- 
ent methods of cultivation, which are often very effective in 
eradicating certain weeds. Continuous cropping and culti- 
vation change the physical condition of the soil. This often 
results, particularly in prairie regions, in the soil blowing and 
drifting. Rotation of crops, especially when grass is intro- 
duced, will soon return the soil to its proper physical condition 
and prevent blowing. There is little profit in using commercial 
fertilizers unless rotation of crops is practiced. 

Comparative Utility of Crop Rotation. — As a rule the pioneer 
farmer in a new country never practices much rotation of 
crops. This is one of the factors of high and intensive farm- 
ing, which is never found on the frontier. The main reason 
for this is that land, being plentiful, is cheap, while all other 
forms of capital, as well as human labor, are comparatively 
scarce and high. It is but natural for the pioneer to endeavor 
to diminish those elements entering into the cost of production 
which are most expensive by substituting others less expensive. 
Land is the cheapest factor, so he uses this more lavishly, not 
to say recklessly, and saves the labor and other capital re- 
quired to farm intensively, which is to cultivate more care- 
fully, to rotate and diversify crops, to keep stock, to fertilize, 
to irrigate, and to follow many other practices requiring addi- 
tional labor and capital. This fundamental advantage of ex- 
tensive farming due to the cheapness and abundance of land 

108 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 109 

is augmented by the fact that the pioneer usually is fanning 
a soil of such Adrgin fertility that for a number of years it will 
produce large crops in spite of extensive culture. Often, as has 
been tiie case in the United States from the very beginning, when 
the soil Has lost its fertility so that it will no longer yield 
standard crops, the fai'mer leaves the solution of the problem 
of its further profitable culture to others than himself by re- 
moving away from it to settle again upon virgin soil, and to re- 
peat there his previous operations. While labor and all capi- 
tal except land are higher in price in a new farming country, 
so little capital is required that its cost is usually below the 
cost of that required in the older country. In 1860 the United 
States was a half century behind England in intensive methods 
of farming, yet the cost of production was much lower for the 
American farmers than for the most scientific farmer of Eng- 
land, even if the latter paid nothing for the use of his land.' 
If most of the members of a community are engaged in agri- 
culture, the supply of agricultural products is not apt to fall 
below the home demand. Where such a large proportion of the 
people have an opportunity of producing at cost, home demand 
is not apt to raise the price greatly above the cost of produc- 
tion of older countries, and exportation is possible. Exporta- 
tion involves the cost of transportation. Under normal con- 
ditions then, prices must always be lower at home than abroad 
before it will be profitable to export. As long as these condi- 
tions obtain, it will be impossible for prices of agricultural 
products in a new country (generally an exporting country) to 
be as high as those of an older country. High farming involves 
more expense than extensive farming, and consequently a 
larger capital is essential. But as prices cannot be so high in 
the newer community, and as capital is not so abundant, it 
follows directly and imperatively that farming cannot be of 
such a high and intensive grade. Unfortunately, however, as 
is so fi'equently the ease with the recklessness of plenty, the 
most loose and careless methods of farming come in vogue, 
methods that are certain to exhaust the soil to such a degree 
within a limited number of years as to necessitate either im- 
proved methods of culture or its abandonment. While there 
may be extenuating circumstances in pioneer times which will 
1 8th U. S. Census, Agriculture, p. vlii. 



110 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

excuse extensive methods of farming when the future must be 
forgotten because of present necessities, when many of the 
advantages of an older society are wanting, and when the 
burden of public improvements perhaps falls comparatively 
more heavily, nevertheless such a course long pursued is not 
only short sighted and suicidal from the standpoint of the in- 
dividual, but it is also unjust to the future. 

When extensive methods of farming have once become cus- 
tomary, changes take place slowly, unless they are necessitated 
by the growth of population and the exhaustion of the land. 
These conditions continually repeat themselves in history, for 
the ancients were already well acquainted with intensive 
methods of farming. 

Summer Fallows. — When land does not produce the usual 
crops, there is a wide pi'actiee of letting it rest one year. No 
crop is planted, but the land is generally cultivated. This al- 
most invariably results in an increase of yield during succeed- 
ing years. It has been claimed that this gain is at the ex- 
pense of heavy loss in humus matter and available plant food.* 
Fallowing encourages the development of nitrates. One of its 
greatest advantages is that it enables the soil to store up mois- 
ture for the wheat crop of the following year. 

Historical. — The farmers of ancient Egypt rotated crops. 
The same practice was folloAved in the time of Virgil, as well 
as the fallowing of land. The three-field system was not new 
in England in Norman times. It consisted of wheat the first 
year, barley or oats the second year, and fallow the third year. 
According to Gibbins crop rotation was not practiced in Eng- 
land in the beginning of the sixteenth century, but the triennial 
fallow was usual in the first half of the eighteenth century. It 
Avas known as the **Virgilian" way of farming. Clover and 
lucern were introduced in the eighteenth century ,'^and brought 
a new rotation of crops that saved the wasted year during 
which land used to lie fallow. In the middle of the nineteenth 
century, rotations were practiced which brought a wheat crop 
every fourth or fifth year, or twice in 6 years. The Japanese 
sowed the wheat in rows, and cultivated vegetables between 
the rows at the same time, in addition to raising other crops 
before or after the wheat crop on the same ground during the 
same year. 

1 N. D. Bui. 24, p. 73. 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 111 

Before the twentieth century, American agriculture con- 
sisted mainly in raising cheap crops, and little attention was 
given to resulting eft'ects upon the soil. After the soil was 
robbed of its fertility, various devices were resorted to in 
order to get a pa^dng crop. The most common of these was 
to seek now land, or to give the land a rest from production. 
Reports from thousands of correspondents show that little sys- 
tematic crop rotation was practiced in the United States even 
as recently as 1902.^ At the close of the eighteenth century 
the deterioration of the soil became apparent, particularly in 
Virginia and Maryland, and as early as 1882 it was noticed that 
the yield of wheat was declining on account of continually crop- 
ping this grain on the same land. The most skilled farmers were 
unanimous in recommending rotation of crops. The most gener- 
ally advised rotation gave one wheat crop in three years. Under 
the stress of hard conditions a true conception of the necessity 
of rotating crops gained a foothold and expanded into farm 
practice. As would be expected, the longer the occupation, the 
more developed is the crop rotation. In passing from the east 
to the west, the degree of rotation begins to diminish in Ohio, 
and by the time Kansas is reached, it has practically disap- 
peared entirely. One-crop or two-crop production was charac- 
teristic of the first agriculture of the north central states. 

On the Dalrymple farm of North Dakota wheat was grown 
continuously for about eighteen years, by which time the soil 
had been so impoverished that a system of crop rotation and 
summer fallow became necessary. Generally corn and barley 
are sown and cut early so that the land may be plowed in July 
before the wheat harvest. Considerable land is also barren 
summer-fallowed, in which case it is plowed twice during the 
summer. In Canada, experience with continuous cropping has 
been much the same as in the United States. Large areas in 
different parts of the early settled portions which once yielded 
fine crops of wheat have been abandoned to pasture and other 
puiposes. 

Experimentation. — In experiments in North Dakota, the plots 
which had been rotated with corn or potatoes yielded about 
twice as much as the best continuous wheat plot. Good cultiva- 
tion alone was not sufficient to produce the best crops, and 

' Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1902, p. 520. 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 113 

other crops gave a poorer yield on land that had been continu- 
ously sown in wheat. "Land which produced three crops of 
wheat and one cultivated crop in a period of four years, gave 
almost as much wheat and moi-e profitable returns than did the 
land Avhich produced four crops of wheat in succession."^ Ex- 
periments have been made in the continual culture of wheat on 
a certain piece of ground, there being no fertilizing of any 
kind, as, for example, the "experimental acre" in Kansas. This 
trial was begun in 1880, and by 1896 the yield Avas falling off. 
PeiTuanent spots of diminished fertility had then appeared. 
Though they may have been due in part to surface-washing, 
partial exhausting Avas undoubtedly a factor." 

Historic experiments in growing wheat continuously without 
fertilizing have been cari'ied on in England for over 50 years. 
"The yield has fallen to about 12 or 13 bushels to the acre, 
but for the past 20 years there has been little or no difference 
in the yield, exce^rt slight fluctuations due to seasonal condi- 
tions. So far as is known, the soil wull produce 12 or 13 
bushels to the acre annually for hundreds of years. "^ 

The Crop Rotations of the United States now generally 
practiced in some typical counties of states leading or promi- 
nent in their geographical divisions, are given below: 

Pennsylvania. — Corn, wheat two years, grass two years (York, 
Franklin, etc.). Corn, oats, wheat, grass three years (Chester, 
Westmoreland). 

Minnesota. — Wheat two years, oats, wheat, flax (Marshall). 
Corn, wheat two years, oats (Lac qui Parle). Corn, wheat two 
years, grass two years (Ottertail, Todd, etc.). 

Washington. — Wheat, rest (Adams). 

California.- — Wheat, rest (Solano, San Joaquin, etc.). 

Maryland. — Corn, wheat two years, grass two years (Mont- 
gomery, Frederick, Talbot, etc.). The rotation on dairy and stock 
farms includes wheat for only one year. 

Oklahoma. — ^Wheat without rotation (Grant, Garfield, Kingfisher, 
etc.). Wheat, corn, (Dewey). Wheat three years, oats (Ka50. 

No crop, nor even any one class of crops, such as the cereals, 
should be continuously grown on a soil that will pi'oduce a 
variety of crops. On ordinary soils, cereal crops should be 
rotated every two to four years with a leguminous crop, such 
as clover or alfalfa. The North Dakota experiment station 
finds that wheat should have a good place in the rotation be- 
cause it is a particular crop, and that the average yield of 

» N. D. Bui. 48, p. 735; Bui. 39. p. 458. 
- Kan. Bui. 59 (1896), p. 90. 
' Indus. Com., 10:clxxxvlii. 



114 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

■\vheat is greatest when the crop follows either corn or potatoes. 
After these crops, placed in the order that they merit for pre- 
paring the soil for wheat, come summer fallow, millet, vetch, 
peas, wheat and oats. The more dry and unfavorable the sea- 
son, the more important it was to introduce a cultivated crop 
into the rotation. The best rotations included a perennial 
grass, for which purpose brome grass is well adapted to North 
Dakota. The rotations vary greatly in different states, and 
soil, climate, and economic causes must determine which ro- 
tations are most advantageous for any locality. Summer fal- 
lowing is widely practiced on the Pacific coast, largely be- 
cause there is practically no rotation feasible. 

Crop Rotations in Foreign Countries. — In Canada, summer 
fallowing is rapidly becoming general thi-oughout the terri- 
tories, where the profitable corn crops of the United States 
cannot be grown on account of the latitude. The system of 
agriculture most prevalent in Russia is the three-field system, 
which is universally practiced in the center of the Russian 
wheat belt. The usual sequence of crops is winter rye, spring 
wheat and fallow. The arable land is divided into three cor- 
responding parts. At a given time each part is in a different 
stage of the system. Other crops are being introduced, and 
this is lessening the area of fallow land. Among the private 
land owners this signifies progress in agricultural methods. 
Among the j^easants it frequently signifies a hai'mful overwork- 
ing of the land, the penalty of which is the drastic 
retribution of greatly reduced yields. Another system, 
still more primitive than the three-field one, is also 
found in Russia, esjiecially in the steppes of the 
southeast, where the greatest extension of the wheat area 
is taking place. By this system the land is tilled until it be- 
comes exhausted. It is then allowed to lie fallow in order to 
recover its fertility. This may require 10, 15, or even 30 
years. In Archangel, Olonetz, Vologda, Viatka and Perm, the 
forest must be cleared to prepare the new land for cultivation, 
but in the southeastern provinces of Orenburg and Astrakhan, 
in New Russia, Kherson and northern Caucasia, all that is re- 
quired is to plow the land. As population grows, this wasteful 
method of farming is being replaced by the three-field system. 
Impoverishment of the land by continuous wheat cropping 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 115 

has been the custom in Argentina. Sixty per cent of the wheat 
is raised under the renting system. The colonist owns notliing 
which grim necessity does not compel him to own, and he prac- 
tices his ruinous methods of farming until the land is com- 
pletely exhausted. Then he fastens the bullocks and horses 
to the carts, packed with his many children and his few mis- 
erable pots, boxes, beds and implements, and travels until he 
finds new fields. Mixed farming as known in the United States 
is little understood or practiced in Argentina, and the farmer 
is generally either a wheat grower or a maize grower. There 
is complaint of the methods of farming in all parts of the Re- 
public, however, and a practice of rotating crops is already be- 
ginning, by alternating wheat and maize, or by planting the 
land Avith alfalfa after three or four years of wheat cropping.' 
For the best crops of wheat in Egypt, it is sown every fifth 
year, the rotation being (1) cotton; (2) *'birsen" (clover) or 
''full" (beans); (3) Avheat; (4) dura (maize); (5) ''birsen." 
A commercial success has been made of growing wheat and 
alfalfa together on the dry uplands of North Africa. In Al- 
geria two rows of wheat are sown 4 inches apart. A space of 
40 inches is left between the double rows, and in this space 
the alfalfa is sown. Wheat is sown only every other year. 
This is of interest, as alfalfa is now the greatest American 
fodder crop, especially in the arid southwest where durum 
wheat is being more extensively grown. 

Experiments with Mixed Crops have been made, chiefly in 
Canada and North Dakota. Results seem to be in favor of un- 
mixed grain, although wheat and flax have an advantage under 
certain conditions, as when wheat is apt to lodge, or when there 
is a superabundance of moistui'e. In the latter case flax has 
increased the yield of wheat as much as 6.5 bushels per acre, 
in addition to giving 1.2 bushels of flax per acre. 

IRRIGATION. 

Historical. — Irrigation is of prehistoric origin. Water, as 
was shown in a former chapter, is one of the greatest essen- 
tials of all plant growth, and it is also one of the most variable 
quantities involved. Since the effects of these variations upon 
vegetation appear quickly, they must have been noticed at an 
1 U: S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Statistics, Bui. 27 (1904), pp. 41-42. 



116 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

early date, and then it was only another step to snpply arti- 
ficially the needed water. Irrigation was a condition that was 
indispensable to the settlement of large portions of western 
America, Australia and South Africa. In meeting these prob- 
lems during the nineteenth century, the Anglo-Saxon race had 
its first experience with extensive irrigation. Throughout all 
the centuries of previous history, the art of irrigation was quite 
exclusively the jjossession of Indian, Latin and Mongolian races. 
It was used extensively by the ancient Chinese, Egyptians, 
Persians and by the people of India. The Homeric Greeks 
used small canals in irrigating. In Italy, it was probably as old 
as the Etruscans. The Romans borrowed the system from the 
east, and brought it to their country and southern France. The 
ancient Peruvians also practiced it, and in Spain it dates back 
to the Iberian life existing under the Roman conquerors. 

Modern Irrigation in Foreign Countries. — Irrigation is more 
or less extensively practiced by all of the great nations of the 
globe, even in subhumid and humid regions. As a rule, how- 
evei", the wheat crop is not extensively irrigated, for irrigation 
is more jirofitable with other crops. The total area watered 
runs into millions of acres in most of the European nations. 
Wheat is frequently irrigated in the Po valley. In Mexico, 
Argentina and Australia, wheat is irrigated to some extent. 
Both streams and wells furnish the water. Extensive systems 
have been planned for Australia, and over 1,000,000 acres could 
be irrigated in New South Wales alone. Argentina contains 
large areas which are irreclaimable excejit by iri'igation. The 
lower valley of the Nile with its delta compi'ises another great 
irrigation system, 6,000,000 acres being under cultivation. 
Egypt is so arid that dry farming is impossible. In 1902 
Bi'itish enterprise completed a dam across the Nile at Assuan. 
It is built of granite, and is 70 feet high, 23 feet wide at the 
top, 82 feet wide at the bottom, and IVi miles long. It is the 
largest irrigation dam in existence, and the reservoir has a 
storage capacity of over thirty billion cubic feet. The largest 
increase in irrigated area in recent years has been made in 
British India, where aDout 30,000,000 acres have been re- 
claimed or made secure for cultivation by constructing new sup- 
ply works. It has been estimated that 80,000.000 acres more 
can be reclaimed in India. In 1892 over $150,000,000 had been 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 117 

invested, and yielded a large profit, though it was often ob- 
tained indirectly. India has the largest reservoir in the world. 
It covers an area of 21 square miles, and it was constructed for 
irrigating in Rajputana. It is known as the great tank of 
Dhebar. 

Irrigation in the United States. — In America, the town-build- 
ing Pueblo Indian tribes pi-acticed irrigation perhaps a thou- 
sand or more years ago. Their ditches and canals can still be 
traced in the little valleys near the mesas of southwestern Colo- 
rado and adjacent portions of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, 
where the cliff dwellings are found, as well as across the bor- 
der valleys through which are scattered numerous ruins of 
community dwellings. Their knowledge of engineering is evi- 
dent, and remarkable. Careful levels have been run over 
several miles of their canals. The grade was found to be 
fairly uniform and suited to a canal of such dimensions, as 
well as in accord with present day knowledge of hydraulics, 
safe velocities and coefficients of friction. While these well 
defined remains of. ancient irrigation works have long out- 
lived the civilization to which they belonged, there are cases 
where they have been utilized in modern works. The ditches at 
Las Cruces, New Mexico, have been used uninterruptedly for 
over 300 years. Some 70 years before the settlement of James- 
town, the Spaniards irrigated on the Rio Grande. Adventurous 
mission fathers pushed on to California, carrying the art of 
irrigation with them. 

The beginnings of irrigation by English-speaking people in 
this country were in the Salt Lake valley of Utah, in July, 
1847. The Mormon pioneers, driven out from Illinois and Mis- 
souri, stopped from necessity on the shores of the Great Salt 
Lake. They diverted the waters of the little canyon streams 
upon the present site of Salt Lake City, so that they might 
raise a crop from the very last of their stock of potatoes and 
save the band from starvation. At about the same time water 
for irrigation was drawn from the ditches used for placer 
mining by the gold miners of California. After the stoppage 
of hydraulic mining by the passage of anti-debris laws, the 
ditches were either abandoned or used exclusively for irrigation. 
Many Avere enlarged and are still used. 



118 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



The Extent of Wheat Irrigation in 1899 is shown in the table 
below :^ 



Acreage 


Production 




Total 


Irrigated 


% Irri- 
gated 


Total 


Irrigated 


% Irri- 
gated 




24,377 

2,683,405 

294,949 

266,305 

92,132 

18,537 

37,907 

491,258 

189 235 

1,073,827 

19,416 


24,137 

161,086 

247,644 

82,708 

37,710 

18,246 

36,638 

16,092 

108,630 

14,204 

14,753 

14,143 

761,848 


99.0 

6.0 

84.0 

31.1 

40.9 

98.4 

96.7 

3.3 

57.4 

1.3 

76.0 

14.1 


440,252 

36,534,407 

5,587,770 

5,340 180 

1,899,683 

450,812 

603,303 

7,280,443 

3 413,470 

20,817,753 

348,890 


436,582 

1,649,455 

5,309,350 

1,799,028 

843,143 

448,802 

589,185 

387,201 

2.554,248 

328,958 

288,180 

185,481 

14,634,132 


99.2 


California 

Colorado 


4.5 
95.0 
33.7 


Montana 


44.4 
99.6 


New Mexico .. 

Oregon 

Utah._. 

Washington... 
Wyoming 


97.7 
5.3 

74.8 
1.6 

82.6 


Total. .. 


5,391,348 


82,716,963 


17.7 







While considerable wheat is irrigated in some states, practi- 
cally all that is grown in them, yet the average per cent of 
irrigated wheat in all the irrigating states is relatively small, 
only 14 per cent. Exclnding California and Washington, where 
mnch wheat is raised and little irrigated, this rises to 36.5 per 
cent; 17.7 per cent of the wheat produced is irrigated, com- 
pared to 14.1 per cent of the acreage. On this basis which, 
however, takes no account of differences in soil, rainfall and 
climate, the yield in these states would be increased over 25 
per cent if all the wheat were irrigated. 

The Problems of Irrigation in our country are, and have been, 
along two general lines: Agricultural and engineering; and 
legal and social. Of these two lines, the latter has presented 
the greatest difficulties. Litigation and controversy have been 
a menace and a source of loss to many communities because no 
institutions existed for adequately defining, limiting and pro- 
tecting water rights. The claims of navigation came into 
conflict wdth those of irrigation. When streams flowed through 
more than one state, interstate difficulties arose. Some of these 
are the basis of a suit by the state of Kansas against the state 
of Colorado. 

Work at the solution of either class of problems has been 
immensely handicapped by a most lamenta1)le lack of knowledge 

1 12th U. S. Census, 6:825-870. 



CKOP KOTATION AND inRlGATIOST 119 

of certain essential facts and conditions. Among these are 
existing Avater supply, quantity required to grow crops, losses 
from seepage and evaporation in distribution, character of the 
control over streams already vested, and measures of adminis- 
tration requisite for an equitable and effective division of water 
supply among a multitude of users. Such unforeseen results 
as alkali lands and seepage waters, formerly secondary consid- 
erations, are now often the most primary problems. Such irri- 
gation as could easily be accomplished with simple means inde- 
pendent of co-operative institutions has largely been effected. 
As the work extended, greater problems arose, claims became 
hopelessly conflicting and united effort under institutional ad- 
ministration became an imperative condition of advantageous 
development. 

Water Supply. — There are two sources of water for irriga- 
tion: Surface waters, such as streams and lakes, and subter- 
ranean Avaters. The former supply over 90 per cent of the 
irrigated land. There are three ways of obtaining underground 
Avaters: By pumping from Avells; by driving tunnels into the 
sides of hills and mountains; and by using flowing Avells. Ar- 
tesian areas are widely scattered, and individually they are of 
small size, except in the Dakotas and California. In 1889, 
51,896 acres, or 1.4 per cent of the irrigated land, Avere irrigated 
from wells. In 14 irrigating states there Avere 8,097 wells, near- 
ly half of which were used in irrigation. Each Avell supplied 
on an average 13 acres, had a depth of 210 feet and discharged 
54 gallons per minute; 169,644 acres Avere irrigated from Avells 
in 1899. Underground Avaters seem to be present very gener- 
ally. It is claimed that there is not a fanii of 160 acres upon 
the great plains region Avithout the requisite moisture absolutely 
needed for from 10 to 30 acres of tillable gi'ound.^ The aver- 
age depth of Avater applied to crops in 1899 Avas 4.35 feet, and 
in 1900, 4.13 feet. 

Application to Crops. — The tAvo principal methods of irriga- 
tion are by flooding and through furroAvs. The former is gen- 
erally used in groAving grain. There are two methods of 
flooding, the check system and by Avild flooding. By the latter 
process a level field is completely submerged. When the ground 
is not level enough for this, the field is diA'ided into compart- 
* Hinton, Rcpt. on Irriga., Cong, serial No. 2899, part I, p. S. 



120 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

ments by ridges. The highest compartment is flooded to the 
top of the ridge, which is then opened on the lower side. The 
water thus passes into the next comijartment, and this pro- 
cedure is continued until all the compartments are irrigated. 
If the land is properly prepared and irrigated before the 
wheat is sown, two subsequent iri-igations will make a good 
crop. When the soil is thus used as a storage reservoir, in 
parts of Kansas and California no irrigation is needed between 
planting and harvesting. 

Alkali. — Arid region soils are usually rich in mineral in- 
gredients. This is because such soils originated in the de- 




THE FURROW METHOD OF IRRIGATING 

composition of rocks in regions Avhere the rainfall is too scanty 
to wash out the soluble elements as in humid regions. The 
soluble salts are naturally distributed throughout tlie soil, and 
are not hai-mful until the application of irrigation water. They 
are then leached out of the higher grounds and concentrated 
in the lower lands. Evaporation tends to bring them to the 
surface. Many irrigation waters also contain much salt in so- 
lution, which results in a further deposition of salt. The result 
of these factors is often ruinous to vegetation. Many thou- 
sands of acres have been thus rendered unfit for cultivation in 
the United States, and the agricultural industries of 59 vil- 
lages in India were wholly or partly destroyed by the rise of 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 121 

alkali previous to 1864. Water containing over 1,000 parts of 
salt in a million has been used without injuiy. Most of the 
artesian wells of Dakota have a salt content much higher than 
this, and the effects of irrigating three or four years with this 
water rendered wheat lands of the Red river valley almost 
wholly unsuited to raise current crops.^ The most effective 
method of removing alkali from land is by underdrainage and 
flooding. 

The Cost of Irrigation in the United States as shown by the 
eleventh and twelfth census is as follows: 

Average values per acre 
1889 1899 

Irrigated land $83.28 $42.53 

Water right 26.00 — 

Annual cost 1.07 0.38 

First cost of water rights 8.15 7.80 

A rise in values would be expected, instead of a fall, as good 
lands with water supply were scarce in 1899, and those lands 
were first irrigated which required least labor and capital. It 
has been estimated that a perpetual water right in a grain 
country is worth from $25 to $50 per acre. The cost of irri- 
gation from many of the original ditches was as low as $2 to 
$5 per acre." 

The Semi-Arid Region of the United States. — There are men 
still living who knew the Mississippi valley as a wilderness. 
For several generations a popular American slogan has been 
"westward the course of empire takes its w^ay," and the rapid- 
ity with which the fertile lands of the great river valleys were 
brought under cultivation has been almost inci'edible. As this 
huge wave of immigration swept across the prairie to the great 
plains, it encountered the subhumid belt as a buffer between the 
humid and the arid regions. Gradually the settlements pro- 
ceeded westward from the abundantly watered Mississippi and 
lower Missouri valleys, and pushed into the well defined sub- 
humid slope which rises progressively toward the Rockies. 
These virgin lands, bordering upon the greatest wheat raising 
region of the world, and fully as fertile, since they were not 
washed by frequent rains, Avere a continual temptation to 

^ Mon. U. S. Geol. Sur.. 25:546-547. 
- Indus. Com., 10:xxxii. 



122 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

carry the ''empire" yet farther west. The "Great American 
Desert" disappeared from the maps. During a series of years 
in which the rainfall was more adetjuate than i;sual, the agri- 
cultural areas leaped forward to the west from county to 
county. The first general advance was in 1883. Within five 
years, western Kansas and Nebraska and eastern Colorado were 
largely settled. To the east of the arid region is a strip of ter- 
ritory embracing portions of Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas 
and northwestern Texas, which has been designated as the 
' ' rain belt. ' ' Its name resulted from the theoi'y that the humid 
i-egion was gradually extending itself toward the west as a 
consequence of the breaking of the prairie sod, the laying of 
railroad and telegraph, and the advent of civilization. Thei'e 
was supposed to be a progressive movement of the "rain belt" 
as civilization advanced. While thorough cultivation undoubt- 
edly makes a material modification in the effects of a given de- 
gree of aridity, it has been declared that the pi'obability of a 
perceptible change in climate does not merit serious discussion. 

The theory received a serious setback from the periodical 
exodus which occurred when succeeding years brought a rainfall 
at or below the normal. There were years when the average 
rainfall (10 to 20 inches) decreased by almost half; there 
wei"e months without a cloud ; there were days in the southwest 
when the winds were so dry and hot that green corn was turned 
into dry and rattling stalks. When crops shriveled and died on 
millions of acres, men lost hope and means, and they were 
foi'ced to abandon the homes that represented the earnings of a 
lifetime. Whole counties were nearly depopulated. These 
vicissitudes caused the tide of migration to ebb and flow, and 
continually wore out its resources. The desert had been re- 
moved from the maps. The supplications of the devout and 
the dynamite of the "rainmaker," a suggestion of the Indian 
medicine men who had held sway on the plains less than a 
century before, had vainly implored the heavens for the rain 
which alone was wanting for the production of profitable crops. 
Yet the blunt fact remained, and still remains, that many mil- 
lions of acres were dead, vacant, and profitless simply because 
of their aridity. This land has little value now, for in many 
places a whole section does not yield enough to keep a fleet- 
footed sheep from starving. 



CROP ROTATION AND IRRIGATION 123 

South of Yellowstone park in the Wind river mountains of 
Wyoming rises Mount Union in majestic grandeur. Three 
streams take their course from this peak — the Missoui'i, the 
Columbia and the Colorado. Embraced in the branching aiTQS 
of these streams is the industrial future of a region greater in 
extent than any European nation save Russia. Could this vast 
district be reclaimed for settlement, it would be a task second 
to none in the realm of social economics, for here millions of 
peojjle could find homes. Within this region is contained prac- 
tically all that remains of the public domain. The only ele- 
ment lacking to make the land valuable is moisture. New in- 
fluences are at work to remedy this, the bitter failures of 20 
years ago have been largely forgotten, and a second wave of 
settlement is sweeping over the plains. Rather slowly and un- 
willingly public attention became fixed upon irrigation. While 
the water supply is sufficient to iri'igate only a small fraction 
of the arid domain, approximately three-fourths of a billion 
acres, several million acres are already under irrigation, and 
there is a good prospect that many more millions will be irri- 
gated in the future. At present this area forms potentially the 
best part of our national heritage. Although most of the land 
Avould be typical for raising wheat, and the completion of the 
irrigation Avorks which the government now has under way will 
add millions of bushels to the annual production of wheat, the 
better adaptability of other crops to intensive cultivation under 
irrigation will doubtless soon render it unprofitable to irrigate 
wdieat extensively. The introduction of irrigation will make 
possible the growing of diversified crops in some sections where 
wheat alone can now be profitably raised. Where the supply of 
water is insufficient for irrigation, the only remedy is the devel- 
opment of drought resistant crops for dry farming. One of the 
greatest of these is durum wheat. If there is water enough to 
irrigate but one acre of ground on the dry farm, this will make 
a green oasis with shade and foliage for the farmer's home, a 
pleasant contrast to the monotony of the gray and dusty sum- 
mer plains with their shimmering waves of heat. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
FERTILIZERS 

Fertilizing consists in the physical application to the soil of 
elements which are immediately or mediately available for plant 
food, or which aid in changing from unavailable to available 
forms of plant food any elements already existing in the soil. 
It is meant, of course, to exclude water, the contribution of 
which is irrigation, but any elements held in suspension or so- 
lution by irrigation waters, and falling under the conditions of 
the definition, are fertilizers. 

Historical — The Homeric Greeks were familiar with the use 
of manure as a fertilizer. Cato mentions irrigation, frequent 
tillage and manuring as means of fertilizing the soil. To these 
Virgil adds ashes. The ancient Peruvians wei'e skillful in the 
application of manure, a practice that has existed in parts of 
Russia from time immemorial. The earliest records on agri- 
culture show that the value of fertilizing had already been 
taught by experience. The degree to which intensive cultivation 
had developed, the natural fertility of the soil, and the inciden- 
tal occurrence of materials that could be used as fertilizers 
have always been, in general, the factors determining the extent 
of the practice. 

NATURAL FERTILITY. 

Soil Composition and its Relation to Plant Life. — From a 
physical point of view the soil of the field may be analyzed as 
follows: (1) The soil proper, consisting of various sizes and 
arrangements of grains made up of insoluble or imperfectly 
soluble minerals; (2) humus, more or less decomposed organic 
matter derived from the decay of former animal and plant life ; 

(3) the soil moisture, covering the soil grains, and containing 
in solution a varying amount of the soluble soil constituents; 

(4) the soil atmosphere, differing from air in composition to 
some extent, and usually saturated with water vapor; and (5) 
soil ferments, or bacteria, which so permeate the soil that it 

124 



FERTILIZERS 125 

should be considered as a living mass and not as dead, inert 
matter. Indeed, the inanimate parts of the soil have their high- 
est significance as the environment of the bacteria which they 
contain, and in part nourish. 

To understand the effect and value of fertilizers, a knowledge 
of the chemical and physical composition of soils, and of the re- 
lation of their composition to plant gi'owth is essential. These 
things must be clearly understood, because fertilizers act upon 
the plant indirectly through their influence upon the compo- 
sition of the soil. 

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Sir Humphi-ey 
Davy said that the substances which constitute the soil "are 
certain compounds of the earths, silica, lime, alumina, magnesia 
and of the oxides of iron and magnesium ; animal and vegetable 
matters in a decomposing state, and saline, acid or alkaline com- 
binations. ' ' ^ 

He also fully understood that the soil furnished nourishment 
for the plants, and that different plants flourish best in different 
soils. While he described the soil elements, often with sur- 
prising accuracy, and was the most expert chemist of his time, 
he did not adequately appreciate the plant foods contained by 
the soil, and his conception of the functions of the elements 
which he described was often extremely vague. For example, 
he held that the silica which plants contain imparts to them 
their rigidity. He recognized in a general way, however, that 
phosphoric acid, potash and lime enter into the composition of 
plants, and he successfully combated many unscientific notions. 
The dei'ivation of soils from rocks was also known in his time. 

Mineral or artificial manures were first studied systematically 
by Liebig, whose views found their way into the United States 
before the middle of the century. The publication of his work 
in 1840 marked a new era in agricultural chemistry. Before 
his time it was very genei'ally held that organic substances were 
the chief food of plants. This has been called the humus 
theory. It was rejected by Liebig, who went to the opposite 
extreme and held that organic matter has no part in plant life. 
Practical knowledge of the use of manures, wood ashes, slaugh- 
terhouse refuse, gypsum, lime and plaster as fertilizers was 
widely diffused and acted upon before the time of Liebig, but 

> Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1899, p 203. 



126 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

it required his work to bring about a full appreciation of plant 
requirements and of the important office of the soil. Through 
the vehement discussions of his work, Boussingault, Lawes, 
Gilbert and others were led to a critical study of these problems. 
The exact needs of plants for mineral nutrients were carefully 
investigated by means of experiments of water-culture and sand- 
culture. This Avork was carried on by the foreign experiment 
stations between 1865 and 1873, and its results contributed very 
materially to the subsequent development of the enormous in- 
dustry of manufacturing and selling commercial fertilizers. 

With prophetic vision Liebig said: ''Manufactories of ma- 
nure will be established in which the farmer can obtain the 
most efficacious manure for all varieties of soils and plants. ' ' ' 
Systematic work in the chemical analysis of soils in the United 
States began in 1850, when D. D. Owens made an extensive 
chemical examination of the soils of Kentucky in connection 
with its geological survey. The most recent developments seem 
to show that the amount and proportion of the elements con- 
tained by the soil are of less importance than was formerly 
supposed. It is of far greater importance that such elements 
as are present should be in a form available for plant food. 
Just what form an element must assume to be most available 
seems to be in a large measure an unsolved problem yet, but 
evidently the texture and the structure of the soil are fully as 
important as the chemical condition of its elements. By texture 
is meant the relative sizes of soil grains, and by structure the 
arrangement of these grains under field conditions. After ex- 
haustive investigations on many types of soil, the conclusion has 
been reached "that on the avei-age farm the great controlling 
factor in the yield of crops is not the amount of plant food in 
the soil, but is a physical factor, the exact nature of which is 
yet to be detei'mined. " * 

Most of the fei'tilizing which has been done has been accord- 
ing to the theory that the soil is a lifeless mass composed of so 
many elements, and that some elements were absent, or not 
present in sufficiently large proportions, it being the object to 
contribute in the form of fertilizer the elements which were 
needed. While the benefits of fertilizers have been unquestioned 

' Yearbook IT. S. Dept. Apr.. 1899. p. 340. 

= U. S Dept. Asr., Bu. of Soils, Bui. 22 (190.-?), p. 63. 



FERTILIZERS 127 

for over a century, it is, nevertheless, doubtful whether quite 
the right path has been followed by investigations which en- 
deavored to determine just how those benefits arose. Air and 
soil are the media through which the growing plant receives its 
nourishment, but this is more than a mere mechanical process. 
In some cases at least there must be some sort of digestion or 
decomposition of foods before there can be assimilation. Silica, 
highly insoluble and apparently the least suited of all the min- 
eral constituents of the earth to enter the vital organism of the 
plant, however finds its way into the plant tissues. Phos- 
phorus, one of the most important mineral foods of plants, exists 
in the soil, or is applied in fertilizers, almost exclusively in the 
form of mineral phosphates, but appears in the plant largely 
in organic combination, while the mineral phosphates which do 
appear are not those which pre-existed in the soil, such as 
those of lime, iron and alumina, but chiefly those of potash. It 
is also found that soils of different composition, texture and 
structure supply different quantities of water to the plant, irre- 
spective of the percentage of water actually present in the 
soil. As water conveys the nutritive solutions to the plant, 
Avhen the supply of water is inadequate, there may also be a 
deficiency of nutrient materials. It is probable, then, that ferti- 
lizers, by temporai'ily increasing the concentration of the so- 
lution, inci'ease the food supply. Such fertilizers seldom per- 
manently affect the nature of the solution, and the concentration 
with respect to the minex-al plant food constituents per unit of 
solution is considered approximately constant. In the same 
and in different soils, however, the water content varies widely, 
and usually the greater the water content, the more diluted is 
the solution. 

In 1902 such exceedingly delicate and sensitive methods for 
analyzing soils in the field were devised that "the amounts of 
nitrates, phosphates, sulphates and the like, which may be pres- 
ent, as indicated by water solutions, can be determined to 
within four or five pounds per acre one foot deep." Fertilizers 
applied in the spring can be traced from the place of applica- 
tion down through the different depths of the soil which they 
invade. Much progress has been made toward determining by 
analysis the fertilizers needed by a particular soil. 



FERTILIZERS 129 

Humus. — Opinion as to the value of humus to plants has, pen- 
dulum like, swung to extremes. According to the early alche- 
mists, decaying animal and vegetable substances yielded their 
spirits to the new plants. Many of the earlier chemists be- 
lieved that the larger part of the materials enterinj^ the groAving 
crop was supplied by humus. The net result of the combined 
labors of DeSaussure, Boussingault, Dumas and Liebig on this 
problem was to demonstrate that plants obtain most of their 
food from the air, and particularly that part -which was sup- 
posed to be furnished by humus. Subsequently to this, humus 
was supposed to have a low value, but it is now known to per- 
form many functions of the greatest consequence in plant 
growth. A certain amount of humus is essential to the proper 
physical condition of the soil. Besides influencing tilth, per- 
meability and weight of soils, it facilitates drainage and pre- 
vents baking and cracking. Humus increases the power of the 
soil to absorb and retain moisture and renders it more friable 
and mellow. It supplies nitrogenous plant food and aids in 
making mineral plant foods and fertilizers more available and 
effective. It also lessens the danger of the winterkilling of 
Avheat, and it furnishes food for the- myriads of bacteria which 
live in all fertile, aerated, moist and warm soils. 

The best method of keeping an adequate humus supply in the 
soil is to grow cloi-^rs and grasses in the crop rotation and plow 
under all plant refuse. Leguminous inter- or cover-crops can 
sometimes be grown advantageously after the main crop of the 
year is gathered, such crops being plowed under in the fall 
or spring for the purpose of supplying humus for the next 
crop. These inter-crops also tend to prevent plant food from 
leaching out of the soil between crops. Among the best humus 
furnishing crops to be grown thus are soy beans and cowpeas, 
but even rye may be used. 

As to the amount of humus contained in dried soils, those from 
the Red river valley contained 4.82 per cent, those between 
the Snake and Pelouse rivers, 6.4 per cent, those near Walla 
Walla, Washington, 4.8 per cent, and those of Missouri 4 per 
cent. Many of the soils of the south are deficient in organic 
matter. The native prairie soil of the Red river valley was very 
rich in humus, but the amount has been greatly depleted by 
continuous wheat growinsj. The soil humus can be increased 



130 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

by diversified farming. To keep the soils iu the best physical 
and chemical condition, sncli a system of rotation should be 
practiced as will include both humus producing and humus con- 
suming crops. Leguminous crops seem to have a marked effect 
in increasing the organic matter in the soil. 

Soil Moisture. — A considerable amount of work was done on 
every type of soil during 1902 by the bureau of soils. As a 
result, soil moisture is now looked upon as a great nutritive 
solution which has approximately the same composition every- 
where, and can vary only witliin narrow limits if plant de- 
velopment is to be successful. It is thought that the kind of 
crop adapted to a soil is largely determined by its physical 
characteristics, while yield is more influenced by chemical 
characteristics. The dissolved salt content of soils seems to 
be only a minor factor in determining the yield and quality 
of crops, the wide differences observed on different soils being 
mainly due to other factors. ''It appears, further, that prac- 
tically all soils contain sufficient plant food for a good crop 
yield, that this supply Avill be indefinitely maintained, and 
that this actual yield of plants adapted to the soil depends 
mainly, under favorable climatic conditions, upon the cultural 
methods and suitable crop rotation, a conclusion strictly in 
accord with the experience of good farm practice in all coun- 
tries." It seems that a chemical analysis of a soil, even if 
made by extremely delicate and sensitive methods, will in itself 
give no indication of soil fertility. If the probable yield of a 
crop can be determined at all, it is likely to be by physical 
methods.^ 

Bacteria. 

Bacteria and Nitrification. — For cereal crops a previous legu- 
minous crop is practically equivalent to the application of a 
nitrogenous fertilizer. In effect this was known by the Romans 
2,000 years ago. Many theories were advanced to explain the 
beneficial effects of a leguminous crop, but the true explanation 
was not found until 1886, Avhen Hellriegel convinced the entire 
scientific world that bacteria cause and inhabit the root nodules 
of leguminous plants, and that the symbiotic relation between 
1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Soils, Bui. 22 (1903), p. 64. 



TERTILIZERS 131 

these bacteria and the plants enables the latter to feed in- 
directly upon the limitless and costless store of free atmo- 
spheric nitrogen. 

Nitrogen is one of the most costly and important of all 
plant foods and most crops remove large quantities of it from 
the soil. This applies with especial force to the wheat crop. 
The commercial supply is so limited that a "nitrogen famine" 
had already been predicted, but the discovery of nitrogen- 
gathering bacteria seems destined to lead to the utilization of 
air nitrogen at a nominal cost. Plants normally obtain through 
their roots nitrogen in some highly organized form. All non- 
leguminous plants placed in soil entirely destitute of nitrogen 
will wither and die. Bacteria alone have this power of fixing 
nitrogen. Not only have these bacteria increased the nitrogen 
content of soils planted with leguminous crops, but it is now 
claimed that for many centuries they have been continually fix- 
ing atmospheric nitrogen in certain regions of Chile and Peru, 
thus creating the extensive deposits of nitrate of soda there 
found in a natural state. 

Men realized the increasing importance of the nitrogen prob- 
lem as the supply decreased, and it was but natural for scien- 
tists to turn to atmospheric nitrogen in an endeavor to replen- 
ish the stores being so rapidly depleted, especially when they 
remembered that nearly eight-tenths of the air is nitrogen, and 
that plants are able to obtain all their carbon from a gas 
constituting only 0.1 per cent of the air. During the last 
quarter of a century bacteriologists have made numerous ex- 
periments which have thrown much light upon the subjects of 
nitrification, denitrification, and the fixation of free nitrogen 
in the soils. It has been found that the soil is alive with 
countless micro-organisms. The activity of some of these fer- 
ments favors, while that of others retards, plant growth. One 
group carries on the process of nitrification, and another that 
of denitrification. In the latter process the nitrates are broken 
down, deprived of their oxygen, and reduced to ammonia or 
nitrogen gas. Nitrates thus lose their availability for plant 
food. Great losses in manures may often occur from this 
source. It is the part of scientific agriculture to determine 
bow to minimize the activity of inimical ferments. 



132 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Bacteria providing nitrogenous food for plants seem to be 
of three classes. One of these works on the nitrogen con- 
tained by the soil humus, and comprises three genera, each of 
which has an essential function in reducing nitrogen to a 
foiTQ available as plant food. Another class develops symbi- 
otically with the growing plants, swarming in colonies upon the 
rootlets. Their vital activity oxidizes atmospheric nitrogen. 
The third class apparently secures the same result without 
symbiosis. 

Efforts were made to inoculate soils with artificial pure cul- 
tures of the third class and thus increase the nitrogen content 
without the aid of manure or mineral fertilizer. While some 
vei'y successful experiments were made, the percentage of fail- 
ures was too great for practical purposes. The root tubercle 
bacteria seem to give the greatest promise of success. All of 
those which have yet had any practical importance were found 
exclusively on the roots of legumes. Some cultures of these 
oi'ganisms, known as nitragin, were placed upon the market a 
few years ago by German experimenters. They were adapted 
to specific crops only, for it was claimed that each kind of 
leguminous plant had a special germ which was more success- 
ful upon it than any other form. There were so many fail- 
ures that the manufacture of nitragin was abandoned. 

Previous to 1902 the United States department of agricul- 
ture inaugurated extensive practical experiments in an effort 
to find improved methods of soil inoculation. The reasons for 
the failure of the German pure culture method were worked 
out. Improved ways of handling and preserving pure cultures 
were discovered, as well as means of rapidly and enormously 
increasing them after they were received by the farmer. 
Great progress was made toward developing an organism effect- 
ive for all legumes, and the virility of the bacteria was so in- 
creased that they fixed over five times as much nitrogen as 
formerly. When the department could send in perfect condi- 
tion to any part of the United States "a di-y culture, similar 
to a yeast cake and no larger in size," the nitrogen-fixing 
bacteria of which could be "multiplied sufficiently to inoculate 
at least an acre of land," the prospects of an early and com- 
plete solution of the nitrogen problem seemed to have a rosy 
hue indeed. 



FERTILIZERS 133 

In spite of the great progress that has been made, however, 
there has been little to encourage the hope of directly increas- 
ing the nitrogen supply of the soil for the wheat crop by 
means of bacteria. The more practical solution seems to be 
the indirect one of growing in rotation with wheat leguminous 
crops aided by artificial cultures. Success in this has been 
pronounced and practical. In 1904 the United States depart- 
ment of agriculture made a very extensive experiment with 
artificial inoculation of leguminous crops. About 12,500 tests 
were made under all sorts of conditions and in almost all of 
the states in the union ; 74 per cent of the tests properly made 
proved successful.* Not only was nitrogen thus fixed in avail- 
able foiTQ for subsequent grain crops, but the leguminous crops 
sometimes yielded five times as much as non-inoculated ones 
grown under similar conditions, the usual increase ranging from 
15 to 35 per cent. One result of the success of the experiment 
was a demand for cultures far beyond what the department 
could supply. A great improvement was made in 1906 by 
abandoning dry cultures for pure liquid cultures hermetically 
sealed in glass tubes. 

Perhaps the best method of distributing and applying the 
organisms is by inoculating the seed of the legumes used. 
This way is thoroughly effective and costs but a few cents per 
bushel of seed treated. One gallon of liquid culture will inocu- 
late 2 bushels of seed. Soil may be inoculated and then dis- 
tributed as fertilizer would be, or earth may be transferred 
from a field containing the bacteria. Both of these methods 
are expensive, less certain of success, and weeds or pests may 
be transferred with the soil. 

The nitrifying bacteria are parasitic plants that penetrate 
the roots of legumes to obtain food carbohydrates. After the 
roots are from 2 to 4 weeks old, the bacteria are unable to 
enter them. It is now known that tubercle formation is not 
essential to successful inoculation, and that the bacteria may 
be present in an efficient state in the absence of tubercles." 
Humid soil and a temperature of 60 to 80° F. are most favor- 
able to the growth of soil bacteria, 35" F. being the lowest, 
and 98° F. the highest temperature at which growth is possible. 

' Bu. of Plant Industry, Bui. 70, p. 41. 
- Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1904, p. 49. 



134 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Denitrifying organisms thrive best in a soil at least slightly 
organic, and so packed as to exclude the oxygen of the air. 
The nitrifying bacteria are unable to develoj^ in organic mat- 
ter, but its presence to some extent is not fatal to them. The 
presence of nitrogenous substances has a deleterious effect upon 
the cultures of nitrifying bacteria, which seem to fix atmo- 
spheric nitrogen only in the absence of plenty of nitrogen in 
the soil, consequently little benefit is to be obtained from in- 
oculating soils containing a good supply of nitrogen. Most of 
the nitrifying germs seem to exist in the first foot of soil, 
while few, if any, exist at a greater depth than 18 inches. 
Other bacteria, such as those which change the sulphur and 
the iron compounds, also exist in the soil. 

APPLIED FERTILIZERS. 

Need, Time and Application of Fertilizers. — Nearly all wheat 
land that is under continual cultivation, even if crop rotation 
is practiced, yields larger returns when fertilizers are properly 
used. In each individual case local conditions and the economic 
position of the wheat grower must determine to what extent it 
is advantageous to fertilize. Each fanner must, in a large 
measure, learn by experience whether the application of a cer- 
tain fertilizer is profitable under his circumstances. It is now 
well known that yield does not increase in proportion to the 
amount of plant food applied, and that the increase in straw 
is greater than that in grain. In determining the value of such 
application, it must, of course, be remembered that more than 
one crop is benefited. The wheat crop may be increased either 
by direct fertilizing or by the residual effect of fertilizers ap- 
plied to other crops in the rotation. The composition and 
condition of the soil determine the relative importance of dif- 
ferent fertilizing constituents. Phosphoric acid used alone 
generally increases the yield of wheat grown anywhere on the 
glacial drift area of the United States.* Either nitrogen or 
potash applied alone does not seem to increase the yield great- 
ly, while the application of both with phosphoric acid gives the 
greatest gain. A fertilizer that can usually be found on the 
market is one containing 4 per cent each of ammonia and potash 
* Hunt, Cereals in Amer. (1904), p. 75 



FERTILIZERS 



135 



and 12 per cent of available phosphoric acid. By applying 
from 250 to 500 pounds of this commercial fertilizer per acre 
the best general results are obtained. If land has been quite 
exhausted by continuous wheat growing, the proportion of ni- 
trogen and potash should be greater. Commercial fertilizers 
are best applied by means of an apparatus made for this pur- 
pose and attached to the wheat drill. They may also be broad- 
cast just in front of the drill. In the case of winter wheat, 
most of the nitrogen is often applied early in the spring so as 
to prevent loss through drainage during tlie winter". 




THE COMBINED GRAIN AND COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER DRILL 



Kinds of Fertilizers. — These naturally fall into two classes, 
barnyard manure and commercial fertilizers. It is only on 
farms whei'e the supply of manure is not adequate to preserve 
a high state of soil fertility that commercial fertilizers are 
economical. In general farming the former has the greatest 
relative value on account of individual or combined physical, 
chemical and bacterial influences not yet fully understood. Con- 
sidering equal weights, however, most commercial fertilizers con- 
tain more plant food than manure does. It is also claimed that 
when applied to wheat they will produce larger returns. Never- 
theless, the lower cost of fann manure always makes its use 
more profitable than that of other fertilizers. Where both are 



136 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

used, it is most profitable to apply the manure to crops grown 
in tlie rotation, such as maize, and to apply the commercial 
fertilizers directly to the wheat crop. 

Manure. — It is claimed that the soils of China have been 
in continuous cultivation for more than 4,000 years without 
falling oft' in productiveness, and that the continued soil fer- 
tility is due to the utilization of all animal manures and of 
sewage. During the eleventh century in France, stable ma- 
nure was unknown as a fertilizer, though flocks of sheep were 
used for this purpose. Stable manures were utilized in the 
medieval husbandry of England, and they have been used to 
great advantage in France and Germany for over a century. 

In America manure has always been utilized as a fertilizer 
by progressive farmers, but it has also been looked upon as 
a farm nuisance. It has been charged with producing dog 
fennel and various other weeds, and with ''poisoning" the 
soil. In parts of Oregon and South Dakota it has been burned, 
sometimes for fuel. It has been hauled into ravines in Cali- 
fornia, into the creek in Oklahoma, into a hole in the ground 
or to the side of the field in Kansas, to the roadside in Mis- 
souri, to great piles in North Dakota and Idaho, and to the 
river in the Mohawk valley.^ It is estimated that the farmers 
of the United States annually lose over $7,000,000 by per- 
mitting barnyard manure to go to waste. As the ferti- 
lizing value of the manure annually produced by the faim ani- 
mals of the United States is calculated at over two billion 
dollars, it must, however, be very generally utilized, a fact 
which does not excuse the foolish and useless waste. The fer- 
tilizing value of the average amount produced yearly is esti- 
mated for each horse at $27, for each head of cattle $19, for 
each hog $12, and for each sheep $2. The amounts of ferti- 
lizing constituents in the manure stand in direct relation to 
those in the food of the animal, and have a ratio to them 
varying in value from one-half to unity. 

Experiments have shown that equal weights of fresh and of 
rotted manure have equal crop-producing powers. As 60 per 
cent of the weight is lost in the rotting process, manure should 
be used in fresh condition. ' ' Barnyard manure contains all the 

1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr.,, 1902, p. 529; Industrial Commission 
10:clxxxviii. ( 



FERTILIZERS 137 

fertilizing elements required by plants in forms that insure 
plentiful crops and permanent fertility to the soil. It not only 
enriches the soil with the nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, 
which it contains, but it also renders the stored-up materials of 
the soil more available, improves the mechanical condition of 
the soil, makes it warmer, and enables it to retain more mois- 
ture or to draw it up from below. "^ It has a forcing effect 
when fresh. 

Barnyard manure rapidly undergoes change and deteriora- 
tion. The latter results mainly from two causes: (1) Fenneu- 
tation, and (2) weathering or leaching. Losses from leaching 
may be prevented by storage under cover or in pits, while 
proper absorbents and preservatives, such as gypsum, super- 
phosphate and kainit, will almost entirely prevent destructive 
fermentation. The manure should be kept moist and compact. 
The loss is less in deep stalls than in covered heaps. The fer- 
tilizing constituents of well rotted manure are more quickly 
available to plants than those of fresh manure, and the former 
should be used when prompt action is desired. In the wheat 
lands of California manure is more or less visible for four or 
five years after its application to the land, and in the semi-arid 
region it must be used cautiously on unirrigated land. The 
light soils of the Pacific coast lack the moisture requisite for 
the absorption of wheat straw plowed under, and consequently 
it must be burned. This wastes the nitrogen element of the 
straw, but saves the ash ingredients for the land. Land treat- 
ed with stable manure for 6 years gave an increase of 60 
per cent in the yield of wheat. Ten tons has been given as a 
reasonable amount to apply to one acre of wheat land. 

Guano. — The first shipload of Peruvian guano was imported 
by England in 1840. Two years later a company was organized 
to trade regularly in this substance. From 1.5 to 2 cwt. per 
acre of wheat was harrowed in with the seed. In the United 
States it quickly gained in popular favor. By 1876 the trade 
was regulated by national treaties, and millions of dollars 
were engaged in its transportation. Peruvian guano was used 
chiefly for its ammonia. The later guanos of the West Indies 
were rich in phosphates, and of greater advantage to some 
crops than the Peruvian. Guano was also one of the principal 

> Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1895, p. 570. 



138 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

sources of nitrogen. Most of the guano beds are now complete- 
ly exhausted. 

Phosphoric Acid. — The four main sources of this are: 
(1) Bones; (2) phosphatic deposits like those of South Caro- 
lina, Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia in the 
United States, or the keys of the Carribean sea; (3) accumu- 
lation of fossil and excrementitious material; and (4) Thomas 
slag, a by-product of the smelting of iron ores. Bones were 
used to a limited extent in England before 1810. They were 
ground until Liebig made the discovery of preparing super- 
phosphate of lime by dissolving bones in sulphuric acid. One 
bushel of bone dust dissolved by one-third its weight of the 
acid is superior as a manure to four bushels of bone dust. The 
lime of the bones is converted into gypsum, and the phosphoric 
acid is reduced to a state more easily soluble and assimilable. 
Foi'merly bones were also often burned. 

In 1817 superphosphates were first manufactured in Eng- 
land, and the first phosphate mined commercially in South 
Carolina was in 1867, six tons. The earliest form of mineral 
phosphate used for fertilizer was apatite. In Canada 10 years' 
expei'ience has shown that finely ground, untreated mineral 
phosphate has no value as a fertilizer. The Bessemer process 
of manufacturing steel gives a by-product, rich in phosphoric 
acid, ''produced by the union of the phosphorus of the iron 
with the lime of the flux employed." This is reduced to a 
fine powder and applied, without treatment, to the soil. It 
contains from 15 to 20 per cent of the acid. The yield of 
wheat seems to be little affected by the carrier or source of 
})hosphorie acid if the material used is finely ground. Some 
30 to 60 pounds of the acid should be applied to an acre of 
land. 

Lime. — It has been claimed that this is one of the first 
mineral elements to show depletion. Sourness of soil often 
results. To correct this and supply lime, 20 to 40 bushels of 
lime per acre may be used. Lime lias a tendency to work 
down, and should never be deeply plowed under. It can be 
applied to the soil most advantageously prior to the planting 
of maize in the rotation, for wheat does not seem to be directly 
benefited by it. If it is applied directly to wheat, it should be 
scattered over the plowed field a few days before seeding and 



FERTILIZERS 139 

at once harrowed in. The ground should be stirred again be- 
fore seeding. The application of one ton per acre every 4 to 6 
years is advised for Illinois uplands. 

Marl. — This consists essentially of carbonate of lime. Often 
considerable amounts of organic matter, sand and clay are also' 
present. It originated in the breaking down of fresh water 
shells. Its action is more slow and ' ' mild ' ' than that of lime. 
It has been "regarded rather as an amendment than a ferti- 
lizer." Its chief functions are in improving the tilth, neutral- 
izing acidity, and promoting nitrification, besides supplying 
lime. The marls of New Jersey also contain potash and phos- 
phoric acid. 

Nitrate of Soda. — Trade in this as a fertilizer began between 
18.30 and 1840. The supply is limited. In 1860 all estimates 
showed that it would last nearly 1,500 years. By 1900 these 
estimates had fallen to less than 50 years, and the world's 
markets were annually consuming nearly 1,500,000 tons, the 
United States requiring about 15 per cent of this amount. It 
is by far the most expensive fertilizer in use, and it is the best 
carrier of nitrogen. 

Potash. — The main sources are wood ashes, and, since 1860, 
the products furnished by the potash industry at Stassfurt, 
Gei-manj'. Several forms are imported from Germany, each 
containing a different but correctly warranted quantity of this 
fertilizer. Nearly 500,000 tons are imported annually by the 
United States. This is over half the product. Since 1860, the 
Stassfurt salts have been almost the only source of concentrated 
potash. Good wood ashes contain perhaps 10 per cent of pot- 
ash. They were long used without the real reason of their value 
being known. Besides potash, ashes often contain consider- 
able lime. Hartlib gave 23 fertilizers and means of fertilizing 
the ground, and among them were included lime, marl, ashes 
and chalk. 

Gypsum or Land Plaster. — Those who are experimenting with 
this material report varied results. It has long been used, 
however, and the most reliable conclusions seem to be: (1) 
That gypsum has undoubted fertilizing value on many soils; 
(2) that its chief value depends on three processes: (a) Pres- 
ervation of ammonia and perhaps other nitrogenous forms; 



140 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

(b) decomposing potash and phosphorus-bearing silicates, liber- 
ating these two elements for plant-food; (e) affecting soils 
physically, making them granulated, or loose and mellow; (3) 
and that it decomposes sodium carbonate and thus breaks up 
the so-called "black-alkali." 

Common Salt. — This has also been used as a fertilizer for at 
least several decades. In the eighties it was a common prac- 
tice in England to sow salt in the early spring on wheat land 
that was too rich, the idea being that a larger deposit of silica 
in the stalk would result, enabling the wheat to stand better. 
While it has been found a valuable agent for increasing the 
yield of barley, it is of less importance in raising wheat. 

Miscellaneous Fertilizers. — A great many other materials have 
been used to a greater or less extent as fertilizers. Among them 
are: Animal products, as wool waste and the refuse of modern 
slaughterhouses, blood, bone, hair, horn, hoof, etc., which 
with fish, manure and sulphate of ammonia from the gas works, 
are still the main sources of nitrogen applied to crops; swamp 
muck, marsh mud, sea-weed, sludge, poudrette, potassium, cot- 
tonseed meal, rape-cake, burnt clay, charred peat, soot and 
green manuring crops. The latter are simply plowed under, a 
practice widely followed in the United States, especially with 
alfalfa and other legumes. Where stock can be raised, green 
crops and cottonseed meal have nearly as great a value for fer- 
tilizer after feeding as before, and yield the additional inter- 
mediate pi'oduct of milk or beef. 

It is interesting to note that the aborigines taught the early 
settlers of New England the value of fish as a fertilizer. Fish 
or fish waste should be composted. Quicklime is used in 
France. Fish compost readily yields its elements to growing 
crops, consequently it should be applied in the spring, and not 
deeply covered. Sludge is the precipitant of sewage, and 
poudrette is the same reduced to a dry powder. A part of their 
value lies in the germs of nitric ferment which they contain. 
Some 40 tons of wheat straw leached and burned on the soil 
contribute to it 8 pounds of phosphorus and G80 pounds of 
potassium, besides the nitrogen leached into the soil before the 
straw was burned. This immensely increases the yield of wheat. 
Mulching with straw does not seem to be of any benefit to 
wheat, whether applied for fertilizing or for winter protection. 



FERTILIZERS 



141 



Fertilizing by Irrigation. — To show the fertilizing value of 
irrigation waters, some analyses are given below. 

COMPOSITION OP IRRIGATION WATER. 

Results expressed in parts per 1,000,000 

















■o 












u 
















X) 










0) ^ 






< 










■o 


rt 




-a.S 






o 






< 


Description 


■3 


'a 

n! 











o 
P. 
o 






















O 








H 


o 

24.0 
32.0 


W 


(^ Ss 


22.6 
21.0 


6.1 
8.3 


Ah 


Ah 


w 


M 


Middle Creek' 


77.0 
96.0 


15.8 
11.2 


0.9 
1.1 


0.41 
0.41 


0.8 
1.9 


3.7 
22.1 


0.34 


Yellowstone River'. .. 


17.0 




221.0 

186.0 

117.0 

1700.0 


64.0 
34.0 
31.0 


18.9 

6.8 

20.2 


3.1 
1.3 
l.S 


52.8 
74.5 
32.2 


18.1 
IS.O 
12.8 


0.22 
0.35 
0.44 
3.4 


1.9 
0.14 
0.9 
10.2 


30.0 

18.0 

6.3 


21.9 


Shields River' 


20.0 




3.4 











The waters of the Nile seem to have the largest amount of 
nitrogen, 1.7 per cent, all the others having merely a trace. 
Some 24 aere-inehes of Rio Grande water add to the soil about 
1,075 pounds of potash, IIG pounds of phosphoric acid, and 
107 pounds of nitrogen. The same amount of Delaware river 
water contains 741.08 pounds of materials, while the Mississippi, 
St. Lawrence, Amazon and La Plata rivers average 655.6 pounds 
of solid matter for every 24 acre-inches. As a rule sewage 
waters from the cities have the highest value for irrigation, 
and muddy river waters stand next. Waters containing sul- 
phate of iron are positively injurious when applied to land. 
They usually issue from peaty or boggy swamps. While the 
fertilizing value of sewage waters is unquestioned, and while 
their use has been almost universally favored, objections have 
been made to them on other grounds. To say the least, they 
undoubtedly contain a hidden danger, and if used at all, it 
should be with the greatest of care. It has been claimed that 
'Hhe use of sewage for fertilizing pui'poses is not to be com- 
mended because of the danger of contaminating the soil with 

' Rept. Mont. Exp. Sta.. 1902, p. 62. 

- Exp. Sta. Record, V. 14, No. 11, p. 1057. 



142 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

pathogenic ferments, which may subsequently infect the health of 
man and beast. These fei-ments may attach themselves to veg- 
etables and thus enter the animal organism, or they may remain 
with a suspended vitality for an indefinite period in the soil and 
awaken to pernicious activity when a favorable environment is 
secured. ' ' 

Vast stores of fertilizing materials are continually being 
washed from the earth by floods, and carried away by streams 
and rivers. The Seine river thus annually carries two million 
tons of silt, a greater weight than the merchandise which its 
waters transport. The Var carries seaward yearly 23,000 tons 
of nitrogen, and one cubic meter of water per second from this 
stream could be made to produce crops valued at 35,000 francs 
each year. The river Durance, an Alpine stream, annually 
carries silt, the fertilizing power of which is equal to 100,000 
tons of stable compost or excellent guano. It would take 
119,000 acres of forest trees to yield the carbon that this volume 
of silt contains. 

FERTILIZER EFFECTS 

Effect on Germination. — In general, fertilizers never seem to 
aid in the germination of seeds, and may be harmful if used in 
large quantities. One per cent of muriate of potash, or of 
sodium nitrate, is very deti'imental, whether applied directly, 
or mixed with the soil. Phosphoric acid and lime are much less 
injurious, and may be harmless if not used in excess. It is 
safest not to bring commercial fertilizers into immediate con- 
tact with germinating seeds, and the effect of chemicals applied 
to seeds before they are planted is no index of their action in 
this respect when used as fertilizers. When injuiy does re- 
sult, it is chiefly to the young sprouts during the time between 
when they leave the seed coat and when they emerge from 
the soil, the seed being affected but slightly, if at all. Salts 
injurious to wheat seedlings have been given in the following 
order: Magnesium sulphate, magnesium chloi'id, sodium car- 
bonate, sodium sulphate and sodium chlorid. Different varie- 
ties of wheat vary in their ability to resist the same toxic salt, 
as does also one variety in different salts. 

Effect on Yield and the Supply of Plant Food. — There seems 
to 1)6 a certain minimum yield of wheat which a soil will give 



FERTILIZERS 143 

under continuous cropping and ordinary cultivation, and this 
yield can be increased by rotation of crops, and still more by 
improved methods of cultivation. Fertilizing is also a factor 
Avhich generally increases the yield, whether utilized by itself, 
or in conjunction with other factors. The use of commercial 
fertilizers must, however, be accompanied by intensive methods 
of cultivation in order to be profitable, and now and then the 
returns seem to diminish with continued use. Mr. Whitney, 
chief of the bureau of soils in the United States department of 
agriculture, maintains that he never saw a case of soil exhaus- 
tion which was probably due to the actual removal of plant 
food. He considers the so-called worn-out soils of the United 
States due to conditions which make the plant food unavailable, 
and holds that the primary object of fertilizing is the adaptation 
of soils to any desired crop or ci'ops. Fertilizing can also be 
practiced to force growth, even on rich soil. Texture and 
drainage of soils can be improved, the ratio of soil constituents 
balanced, and acidity neutralized. Attention is called to the 
facts that "the soils of India, which tradition says have been 
cultivated for 2,000 years, under primitive methods, without 
artificial fertilizing, still give fair returns. In Egypt, lands 
which have been cultivated since history began are as fertile as 
ever. In Euroj^e there are records of cultivation of soils for 
500 years.'" 

Tradition is not always scientific, however, and soil is not 
greatly taxed by such primitive methods of culture as have ex- 
isted in India for 2,000 years. The sediment which is de- 
posited by the waters of the Nile at every annual overflow is 
entirely adequate to maintain the fertility of the cultivated 
lands of Egypt, while fertilizing, improved methods of culti- 
vation, and ci'op rotation have greatly increased the yield of 
European soils. On some of the fields in France 28 bushels of 
wheat are raised per acre where 17 bushels were raised 50 
years ago. The soil of France is more fertile today than it was 
in the time of Caesar. The fertility of the soil in Germany has 
increased pi'oportionately. In England, land on which wheat 
was grown continuously for 50 years without fertilization yield- 
ed 12 to 13 bushels per acre, while adjacent plots to which fer- 
tilizers were applied averaged about 30 bushels per acre. Mr. 
" Industrial Commission, 10: clxxxviii, cxcii. 



144 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

Whitney takes the position that if the soils of eastern and 
southern United States have any less plant food than when 
first cultivated, they at least have all the ingredients essential 
for crop production. This position is certainly supported by 
statistics that have been given on the amount of plant food 
contained by soils. An acre of very fertile soil contains about 
70,000 pounds, or 2 per cent, of potash in the first foot of 
ground. A crop of wheat removes about 15 pounds of potash 
from each acre. It has been estimated that the first eight 
inches of soil contain on an average enough nitrogen to last 90 
years, enough phosphoric acid to last 500 years, and enough 
potash to last 1,000 years.' This supply is materially increased 
when we consider the great depth penetrated by the roots of 
wheat. It must also be borne in mind that the loss of plant 
food is often much greater than that removed by crops; for 
example, it has been given as three to five times as much in the 
case of nitrogen. 

Extensive farming, nevertheless, soon reduced the produc- 
tivity of our first cultivated soils, and with the opening of the 
large and level western wheat fields of fully as great fertility 
as was ever possessed by any soils of the United States, many 
of the older lands were abandoned. Now, however, most of 
the farm lands of the west have '^een occupied, the standard ot 
farming is being raised, and conditions have so changed as to 
make it seem profitable again to resume the cultivation of these 
abandoned lands. But they must be farmed by intensive meth- 
ods, of which fertilizing is a valuable part. Some lands have 
already been restored to fertility and are being cultivated with 
profit. 

Missouri soils are still rich in plant food, yet their produc- 
tivity is much less than it was 50 years ago. Commercial fer- 
tilizers had been profitably used in wheat raising in Ohio over a 
decade ago. Growing a leguminous crop on light sandy soil 
deficient in humus increased the yield of the following crop of 
wheat over 50 per cent in Arkansas. When 400 pounds of a 
complete fertilizer were used in addition, the following 2 
years the wheat ei'op averaged over 70 per cent more than on 
soil not thus treated. Manure treatment and the application 
of phosphorus is found very profitable in Illinois. 
' Rppt. Mich. Board Agr., 1905, p. 147. 



FERTILIZERS 145 

As a rule, the land in the Red river valley is not fertilized, 
and produces less than 15 bushels per acre, but the application 
of fertilizers has given 26 bushels per acre. Rotation of crops is 
already widely practiced in the northwest, and as the soil becomes 
more exhausted and the prices of land and produce rise, ferti- 
lizers will be used there, just as they have in every other coun- 
try where similar conditions arose. Even the largest bonanza 
farmers are looking forward to the time when they must fer- 
tilize. Stock Avill also be raised, and farming will become more 
diversified. This will give opportunity to utilize many of the 
pi'oducts of wheat on the farms where they are produced, and 
the need for commercial fertilizers may ultimately be removed 
altogether. One-fourth of the nitrogen and nearly all of the 
phosphoric acid and potash which enter into a crop of wheat 
are contained in bran, sci'eenings and middlings. Most of these 
can be returned to the soil by raising stock. These principles 
are not mere theories, for their practical working has been 
demonstrated in Michigan and Illinois, in portions of which the 
land has been continually growing more fertile under cultivation 
Avithout the use of a pound of commercial fertilizer. 

The average Kansas wheat grower has given little thought 
j'et to fei'tilizing, but 'Hiis methods will change with the years 
and the necessities." In Minnesota, ''results already reached 
warrant the statement that the average yields per aci-e of 
wheat can be increased 25 to 50 per cent by so rotating the 
crops and manuring and cultivating tbe fields (as) best to 
prepare the soil for this grain. "^ The necessity of fertilizing 
is little felt in Canada as yet. 

Fertilizer Laws. — A majority of the United States, including 
nearly all the states east of the Mississippi, have statutes, most 
of them rather stringent, governing the sale of commei'cial 
fertilizers. That dealers were cheating farmers was first shown 
by the Massachusetts experiment station. This station Avas in- 
strumental in the passage of the Massachusetts fertilizer law, 
which was more or less closely followed by other states. The 
department of agriculture has made efforts for a more uniform 
system of laws, and to regulate interstate trade. No general 
fraud is now practiced. Thousands of ofificial analyses are 
» Minn. Bui. 12^ p. 321. 



140 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

made yearly^ aiid these very largely eliminate fraud and ex- 
travagant claims. 

Fertilizer Statistics. — The annual sales of fertilizers in the 
United States exceed $50,000,000, and perhaps over 2,000,000 
tons are consumed. During 1896 over 375,000 tons were im- 
ported, valued at about $19 a ton, and over 514,000 tons, valued 
at about $8.50 a ton, were exported. During the first six months 
of 1905 the importations were valued at neai'ly $2,000,000. The 
annual import of nitrate of soda is nearly 200,000 tons, having an 
average value of about $30 a ton. The first guano sold for 
about $95 a ton, but later fell to half that amount. A ton of 
cottonseed meal has a fertilizing value of over $20. A ton of 
fertilizer, costing $25, is applied to an acre of wheat land in 
New York. The phosphate mined in the United States in 1899 
amounted to 541,645 tons. The average cost of phosphates 
at the quarry was $4.42 i^er ton in 1893. In Illinois rock phos- 
phate could be procured at about $8 per ton in 1906, and bone 
phosphate at $25 per ton. California expended six times as 
much for fertilizers in 1900 as in 1890. About 1890 the farmers 
of Ohio were expending a million dollars annually for com- 
mercial fertilizers used in the production of wheat. 

It is claimed that a trust caused prices of fertilizers to ad- 
vance from 15 to 25 per cent in 1900. Below is a schedule of 
prices given for the different fertilizing substances per pound:* 

Nitrogen I6I4 cents 

Potash 5 cents 

Water-Soluble Phosphoric Acid 5V2 cents 

Citrate-Soluble Phosphoric Acid 5 cents 

Phosjihoric Acid in fine bone 3 cents 

Phosphoric Acid in medium and coarse bone 2^2 cents 

In Illinois the annual cost of fertilizing an acre of land is 
about $1.70. Tubercle organisms enable leguminous crops to 
add from $8 to $10 per acre in nitrogenous fertilizer. In the 
early nineties over 75 per cent of the fertilizers sold wei-e 
equal to or above the guaranty under which they were sold. 
Most of the others were much less than 1 per cent below their 
guaranty. It has been estimated that with the use of all barn 
manures and proper cultivation, the soils of the Red river 

» Miss. Bui. 77 (1902), p. 3. 



FERTILIZERS 147 

valley should yield good crops without commercial fertilizers 
for over a thousand years. "From 7 to 135 pounds of nitrogen, 
from 3 to 55 pounds of phosphoric acid, and from 3 to 36 
pounds of potash are sold with every ton of produce leaving the 
farm. ' ' ' Eighty billion pounds of nitrogenous material en- 
tered into the creation of one harvest in the United States in 
the early nineties. The cereals annually took from the earth 
nearly 3 billion pounds of phosphoric acid, and the loss of potash 
was not less than 4 billion pounds. 

1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1897, p. 301. 



CHAPTER IX 
DISEASES OF WHEAT 

Introductory. — Studies in plant pathology of any great prac- 
tical bearing or importance are decidedly and characteristically 
modern and recent. In 1885 there were three institutions in 
the United States besides the department of agriculture which 
were making systematic efforts in experimental work with 
plant diseases, and in disseminating such knowledge as then 
existed in these lines. Ten years later over one hundi'ed special 
investigators were devoting their time to this work, and 50 
colleges and stations were endeavoring to solve its practical 
problems. The science of plant pathology has had its highest 
appreciation during the last decade, for some of the outlying 
problems have been solved, a working foundation has been laid 
from the facts that were acquired, and a body of institutions 
with specialists and resources has been developed for scientifi- 
cally prosecuting the work. 

The Classification here followed is practical and inclusive, 
rather than scientific and exclusive. There is nothing patho- 
logical in the sudden destruction of a field of wheat by floods 
or locusts, but excessive moisture or the presence of a parasite 
may each bring about diseased conditions, and every gradation 
of phenomena between these two types must be considered. 

Sources of Injury and Weakness are of three kinds: (1) 
Unfavorable inanimate environment; (2) unfavorable animate 
environment; and (3) poor seed wheat. When these three sets 
of factors occur in combination, as they frequently do, their 
relations and inter-relations are so intimate and intricate as to 
be inseparable. Only in a general way can they be individually 
studied. 

WEATHER AND SOIL INFLUENCES 

Unfavorable Inanimate Environment. — Drought; Hail, Wind 
AND Rain Storms; Floods; Fire. The operation of these de- 
structive influences needs no further elucidation than a mere 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 149 

mention. Very little specific information can be found as to 
the extent of damage caused. Such scattering data as have 
been collected can be most advantageously presented under the 
subject of insurance. 

Frosts. — The most usual injury by frost is the winterkilling 
of fall wheat. This may occur whenever the ground freezes to 
any appreciable depth, and in two ways. The plants either 
freeze to death, or are lifted out of the soil by alternate 
freezing and thawing. A good covering of snow is very pro- 
tective. Seeding with a press drill lessens the danger. Frost 
may also injure wheat when it is filling, or it may cause the 
stems to burst after they have jointed. 

Hot Waves or Winds are most liable to occur during a period 
of drought. It is thought that these waves can be forecasted 
for a period of about four days. At such times the eastward 
circulation of the atmosphere is practically suspended, and radi- 
ation is at a minimum. A hot wave is defined as a period of 
three or more consecutive days with a maximum temperature 
reaching or passing 90° F. In years when hot waves are un- 
usually severe, the harvest returns are decreased by one-fourth 
in quantity, and the quality is quite inferior. The heat seems 
to mellow the ground, however, and to put it in such ideal con- 
dition as to increase the crop of the following season. Hot 
winds have a velocity of 20 to 30 miles per hour, a tempera- 
ture often ranging from 100 to 106° F., and 20 to 30 per cent 
of relative humidity. The roots cilnnot supply moisture, even 
if it is present in abundance, as fast as it is evaporated from the 
leaves by this great blast of hot, dry air. The cells are com- 
pletely desiccated, and the whole structure of the plant col- 
lapses. A hot wind is most destructive immediately after a 
rain, which temporarily checks and lessens the transpiration of 
which the plant is capable. In the United States these winds 
are most apt to occur in the central prairie regions. In Argen- 
tina, a similar dry, hot wind known as the pampero comes up 
suddenly, destroys all vegetation ''and even cracks furniture 
and timber in buildings." A wind-break of trees, or anything 
else that tends to lessen the movement of the air, has a remedial 
effect. 

Excessive Moisture. — This may be injurious in a number of 
ways. If too much water is present, the wheat may be 



150 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

"drowned." It also tends to develop the straw indefinitely, 
and at the expense of the grain. Rains dui'ing heading are apt 
to prevent filling, and are by far the most common cause of 
blight. In a very wet harvest wheat is apt to germinate be- 
fore it can be threshed. One-third of the wheat crop of lower 
Canada was lost in 1855 by the grain germinating in the straw. 

Unfavorable Soil. — The soil texture may be such as. to de- 
prive the roots of the proper air supply. Certain elements, as 
in the case of alkali, for example, may be present in such 
abundance that their chemical action upon the wheat plants 
causes disease. Some of the essential plant foods may be 
absent, or present in improper proportion. 

All types of disease mentioned thus far arise from physio- 
logical variations due to abnormal variations in the growth fac- 
tors, are not transmissible, and consequently never spread 
from plant to plant or field to field, as do the infectious wheat 
diseases. 

PLANT INFLUENCES 

Unfavorable Animate Environment. — Weeds — Plants out of 
place are called weeds. They deprive wheat of its nutri- 
ment and ordinarily give very little in return, except in the 
case of certain legumes. Weeds once introduced into a region 
spread rapidly. With runners, rootstocks, running roots and 
apparatus for throwing seeds, they effect a dispersion of their 
kind independently of any external agencies. Wind, water and 
animals are the natural agencies that aid in the dispersion, but 
rarely carry seeds long distances. Man aids weed migration 
more than all natural means combined, and consequently its gen- 
eral direction is in the wake of the progress of cultivation. 
Commerce in Avheat makes some weeds cosmopolites. These 
plants have a wide range of adaptability, which grows wider 
under conditions of cultivation. Some seeds, especially those 
of cockle, have a tendency to approximate the wheat grain on 
account of selective influences arising from cleaning seed wheat. 
Those which differ most from wheat are the ones removed. 
Sowing the remaining ones develops a strain more closely re- 
sembling the wheat grain. 

Weeds injurious to wheat may be divided into three classes, 
based on the point of incidence of the damage caused: (1) 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 151 

Those which choke the crop, preventing its growth; (2) those 
which interfere with harvesting and cnring; and (3) those 
whose seeds injure the commercial value of the grain by min- 
gling with it. Deterioration in the quality of the grain by the 
third class is pei'haps the greatest damage resulting from weeds. 

Kinds of Weeds: Chess or Cheat {Bromus secalinus L.) — This 
is an annual grass that will not produce seed unless sown in the 
fall, and consequently it is not found in spring wheat. It is 
less vigorous than wheat, but more prolific, and also more re- 
sistant against cold and insects. One pound of seed has been 
known to multiply 99-fold in one generation, and one seed 
3,000-fold. The ordinary observer cannot distinguish the young 
chess plant from wheat. Chess injures flour and must be 
cleaned from the wheat before grinding. Seed wheat properly 
cleaned by a fanning mill is quite free from chess. If wheat 
is treated for smut by stirring it in a solution, the chess seeds 
will rise to the surface and can be skimmed off. A pound of 
chess and a bushel of wheat have about the same number of 
seeds. 

Russian Thistle or Cactus {Salsola kali tragus L.). — This 
weed is neither a thistle nor a cactus, but a saltwort, closely re- 
lated to the tumbleweed, lamb's quarters, and pigweed. In 
parts of Russia, where it has been known over 150 years, ex- 
tending now to northern Russia and central Siberia, it is known 
as Tartar or Hector weed. It was first introduced into the 
United States in 1873 or 1874, being sown in South Dakota with 
Russian flax seed. As the weed prefers a dry climate, it could 
not have found a more congenial habitat. When the plants 
were uprooted in the fall they rolled across the prairie with 
the speed of the wind, scattering seeds at every bound, and 
stopping only when they were worn to pieces, or when the wind 
ceased, for in the early Dakotas there were few fences, forests, 
or streams to stop their course. 

Thus they covered an advance of 5 or 10 miles in a season, 
though stray plants went much farther. As a rapid traveler 
thoroughly covering territory it surpassed any other weed 
known in America, and very few cultivated plants intention- 
ally distributed have such a record for rapidity. Within 20 
years it infested a continuous area of about 35,000 square miles, 
and caused at least $1,600,000 damage to wheat every year. 



152 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

By 1894 it had crossed to tlie west side of the Missouri river, 
and was spreading in Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. In 1895 
the injuries which it caused extended from Michigan to Col- 
orado, Idalio and California, but the greatest damage resulted 
in the Dakotas and Nebraska. 

The Russian thistle is an annual with a dense, yet light 
growth of circular or hemispherical form. The average plant 
is 2 to 3 feet in diameter, weighs 2 to 3 pounds when matured 
and dry, and is estimated to bear 20,000 to 30,000 seeds. Single 
plants have been found 6 feet in diameter, weighing about 20 
pounds when thoroughly dry, and estimated to bear 200,000 
seeds. It is ideally fitted to be carried by the fall winds, which 
easily break off or pull out its slender roots. A severe frost 
kills the plant at any time, but it produces seeds abundantly 
as far north as the Canadian boundary. 

In Russia no effectual method of exterminating the weed is 
known. It is continually growing worse, and as a consequence 
the cultivation of crops has been abandoned over large areas in 
some of the provinces near the Caspian sea. Laws for its 
eradication were passed in South Dakota in 1890, in Iowa in 
1893, and in Kansas, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin 
in 1895. In 1892 and again in 1893, the department of agricul- 
ture sent an assistant botanist to the Dakotas to work out the 
whole life history of the plant, and the method of dealing with 
it was established chiefly on the basis of the knowledge thus 
obtained. It is claimed that if this had been done before 1885, 
a saving would have been effected for the wheat growers of the 
northwest "sufficient to pay the cost of maintaining the whole 
department of agriculture for many years to come. "^ Wetter 
seasons, more intensive farming, the building of fences, and 
the planting of trees reduced the Russian thistle to the 
ranks of comparatively unimportant weeds in the Dakotas, but 
in Nebraska stringent measures were necessary. Farmei's co- 
operated in the work, and the weed was '^uinted almost as 
strenuously as game Avould be," so that for some years it has 
not been an important factor in wheat growing in Nebraska. 

Darnel (Lolium temulentum L.) has its widest distribution in 
Europe. It also occurs in the wheat fields of California, where 
1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1897, pp. 95-96. 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 153 

it is mistaken for chess. It is an annual grass, and can be 
cleaned from seed wheat by the chess method. 

Cockle {Agrostemma githago L.) is a member of the pink 
family and a widely distributed weed of the wheat fields since 
ancient times. In size and weight its seeds resemble wheat 
grains so closely as to be removed with difficulty. They are 
easily seen in the grain, however, and are injurious to flour, 
consequently they render wheat less marketable. As cockle 
is usually not abundant, grows over a foot high, and is con- 
spicuous because of its large pink blossoms, it can easily be 
pulled from the growing wheat. The seeds have great vitality 
and will germinate even if they have lain in the ground several 
years. 

Wild Garlic {Allium vineale L.) is most troublesome to 
wheat in eastern United States. It grows about two feet in 
height. The flour is spoiled when the bulblets of the plant are 
ground with the wheat. These can be removed by careful screen- 
ing. Badly infested land should be put into cultivated ci'ops 
for a few yeai's. 

Wheat-Thief {Lithospermum arvense L.). — Other names by 
which wheat-thief is known ai'e bastard alkanet, corn gromwell, 
redroot and pigeonweed. Its greatest damage is to meadows fol- 
lowing wheat in I'otation. Cultivated crops are the best remedy. 

Wild Mustard or Charlock {Brassica sinapistrum L.) is so 
uniformly found in spring wheat that flouring mills make a by- 
product of its seed. When not very abundant it is easily pulled 
in the field, for it grows nearly as high as the grain and has con- 
spicuous yellow flowers. In small wheat fields where it is very 
abundant it can be killed by spraying the field Avith a 3 per cent 
solution of copper sulphate, using about 50 gallons of solution 
to the acre. It is claimed that the wheat is not injured.^ If 
wild mustard seed is covered with at least five inches of soil it 
will not grow, but thus buried it will' retain good germinating 
power for over 56 months. It comes up most abundantly 
through one inch of soil. 

Thistles are of two varieties: Canada thistle {Cnicus 

arvensis), and common or sow^ thistle (C. lanceolatus) . The 

latter is also known as spear, bur, and bull-thistle. It grows 

2 to 4 feet high and has the better hold on the land where both 

^ Cornell Bui. 216 (1904), p. 107. 



154 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

infest the same area. The Canada thistle is a native of Europe 
and Asia. In Great Britain it is called corn or creeping thistle. 
Its growth is rather slender, and from one to two feet in height. 
Its deep-laid, extensively-creeping and sprouting rootstock make 
it one of the very worst of weeds. Both of these plants are 
constantly invading new territory, especially such as is con- 
tinually cropped in wheat. The areas infested become useless 
for growing small grain. Intensive cultivation with a certain 
amount of hand work is the best remedy. 

General Remedies. — While experiments in killing certain weeds 
by spraying with chemical solutions have been made, the most 
practical method is to prevent as far as possible the spread of 
their seeds. This is accomplished by sowing clean seed wheat, 
and by killing the weeds when they do succeed in starting. Con- 
ditions most favorable to the growth of wheat place the weeds 
at the greatest disadvantage. Intensive fanning always finds 
effectual methods of dealing with them. 

Losses. — The wheat growers lose millions of dollars annually 
on account of weeds. They are the largest factor in elevator 
dockage. In North Dakota' 47 samples of wheat were found to 
have an average real dockage of .04 pounds per bushel. This 
varies each year, and the average dockage for the 1906 crop of 
wheat was about 2 pounds in the Minneapolis market. If 500,- 
000,000 bushels of wheat are grown in the United States an- 
nually, and the dockage averages only half of one pound per 
bushel, then over 4,000,000 bushels are not only waste, but they 
also injure the commercial value of the real wheat. Where 
large quantities of wheat are cleaned, the cost is about one- 
fourth of a cent per bushel. 

Birds. — In the United States 29 species and subspecies repre- 
sent the family Icteridae, a group of birds including those com- 
monly known as bobolinks, meadowlarks, orioles, blackbirds, 
grackles and cowbirds. Rating the blackbirds in the order of their 
grain-eating propensities revealed by stomach examinations, 
and putting first those that eat least, the list reads: Bobolink, 
redwing, cowbird, rusty blackbird, yellowhe'ad, crow blackbird, 
boat-tailed grackle. Brewer's blackbird and California red- 
wing. Since the first two are the ones most complained of, 
the amount of grain actually eaten would not seem to be the 
' N. D. An. Report (1904), p. 45. 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 155 

only factor to be considered in determining the relative barm- 
fulness of the species. The dove, the sparrow and the crow 
also eat grain from the fields, as do many other species. None 
of these birds are, however, entirely harmful ; indeed the good 
that many of them do by destroying injurious insects and seeds 
more than counterbalances the damage occasioned by the eating 
of grain. At least 50 different birds act as weed destroyers and 
help to eradicate nearly 100 species of noxious plants. The 
number of weed seeds eaten is enormous, one bird eating a 
thousand seeds of some kinds for a single breakfast. The in- 
sects eaten by these birds are also generally noxious. There is 
usually an equilibrium of organisms in nature, and birds be- 
come harmful only when they disturb this proper balance by 
increasing out of proportion to their environment. 

"Yellow Berry." — This occurs in hard winter wheat. Some 
of the wheat berries are often lighter in color and weight than 
the hard red ones, and also have a lower gluten content. Over- 
ripeness and failure to stack the sheaves have been given as 
causes, but opinions seem to differ as to this. It is claimed 
that the annual loss in Nebraska is from one-half to one mil- 
lion dollars.' 

FUNGOUS ENEMIES 

"Glume Spot." — This fungus receives its name from the 
dark spots that it causes upon the glumes of wheat. It has 
been studied but little, and no remedy is known. 

Wheat Scab (Fusarium eulmorum) also attacks the glumes 
and causes lead-brown-colored sections in the spike, or even de- 
stroys the spike entirely. The loss is usually light, but may 
reach a maximum of about 15 per cent. The only remedy sug- 
gested is the burning of the stubble. 

Smut. — Two kinds of smut attack wheat, stinking smut, or 
bunt {Tilletia tritici (Bjerk.) Wint.), and loose smut {Ustilago 
tritici (Pers.) Jens.). The enormous damage resulting from 
this disease attracted attention in ancient Greece and Rome. 
Hartlib called attention to the fact that smutty seed produces 
smutty grain, and he was perhaps first to record a remedy 
(1655). His three remedies for smut in wheat were liming the 
1 Neb. Bui. 89 (1905), p. 50. 



DISEASES OP WHEAT 157 

field, liming the seed, and soaking the seed over night in com- 
mon salt lye. Though the efficacy of the remedies was doubt- 
ed, there must have been some beneficial results, for it is 
claimed that the seed was invariably steeped. By the middle 
of the nineteenth century there were many methods of steep- 
ing, liming and brining wheat to prevent smut. It was found 
that the use of a solution of arsenic gave a clean crop from 
smuttj' seed. 

Just how fully the nature of smut was understood by these 
early writers does not seem to be clear, but they must have had 
considerable knowledge of the disease in oi'der to pursue such 
correct pi'inciples in endeavoring to effect a cure. The black 
dust frequently filling the kernels of ripening wheat consists of 
thousands of germs of the parasitic smut fungus. These germs, 
or spores, have a great capacity for spreading over the fields, 
but the only real danger seems to be from those spores which 
lodge on healthy kernels, generally in the haii'y ends. Chances 
are slight of clean seed being infected by being sown on 
ground containing smut spores. Spores have the same func- 
tion as seeds of higher plants, and, the infected kernels of 
Avheat being sown, the spores germinate at the same time as 
the wheat. The slender filaments penetrate the tissues of the 
wheat plant before the first leaf is put forth. From this 
point its growth is within the wheat plant, both plants growing 
together. It seems to be still undecided how these threads pro- 
ceed below the upper two joints of the mature wheat plant, 
whether they pass upward thi'ough the pithy region of the stalks, 
or whether they follow the surface tissues, but it is probable 
that the method of smut growth is uniform throughout the 
entii'e plant. The fungus seems to die as it passes upward, and 
leaves few traces of its path. 

In the mature wheat plant smut seems to be found only in 
(he chlorophyl bearing parenchymatic tissues. Nearly 30 rows 
of breathing pores in the skin covering of the straw run length- 
wise with the stalk. Under these rows of pores are layers 
of succulent cells which produce the food eventually used in 
forming the wheat grains. The smut filaments remain close 
to the open pores, absoi'bing and taking the place of this cellu- 
lar structure with its chlorophyl and pi'otoplasm. No other 
cellular tissues are disturbed, and until the heads develop the 



158 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



presence of the smut can scarcely be detected without the aid 
of a microscope. A mass of smut threads then absorbs all 
the nourishment, fills the flower or grain, and soon converts 
it into a mass of spores. As the parasite lives at the expense 
of its host, the latter is weakened and stunted in proportion to 
the amount of smut. This may be great enough to dwarf the 
plants so as to prevent the formation of heads, or even to 
cause the stalks to die back to the ground, or it may be so 
little that the heads are never reached, simply the stx'aw being- 
infected. Much of the straw may be thus infected, greatly 
reducing the yield, even though apparently uninjured heads are 
formed. Smut filaments have also been found in grains which 
had formed starch.^ In general, smut and wheat seem to de- 




SECTIONS OF SMUTTED WHEAT STRAW 

At the left is a longitudinal section of a wheat straw and at the right a cross 
section, a, epidermal cells; />, smut filaments ; c, librous cells; (/.internal 
tissues. 

mand about the same meteorological conditions for their best 
growth. Smut will successfully pass the winter, even upon 
the open ground in North Dakota. Germs two years old have 
not lost their power of producing smut in a crop." 

Grains of wheat affected by stinking smut are slightly larger 
and more irregular than healthy ones. Such kernels, the so- 
called *' smut-balls," are easily broken open, and the dark- 
brown powder with which they are "filled has a very disagree- 
able and penetrating odor that pervades the whole bin of 
Avheat, even if only a small per cent of the kernels are smut- 
ted. On this account they differ from all other grain smuts 
in that their presence can be easily recognized. Sometimes 

^ Bolley, Proc. Tri-State Grain Growers' Ass'n., 1900. p. 86. 
- Ropt N. D. Agr. Exp Sta., 1901, p. 34. 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 



159 




50 to 75 per cent of the heads in a field arc 
smutted, and the remainder of the grain is 
so contaminated by the fetid spores as to 
be of veiy little value as flour and worse 
than useless for seed. Unchecked, these 
smuts increase from year to year, and they 
occur more or less abundantly in all wheat 
raising countries. 

Loose Smut of Wheat differs from the 
stinking smut in these respects : At germi- 
nation its spores develop a chain of cells 
instead of an undivided tube; it has no 
fetid odor; it attacks both kernel and chaff; 
and it ripens when the healthy wheat is in 
flour. By harvest time the spores have all 
taken wings upon the wind, leaving a naked 
stalk in place of the head. It is 
known to occur in Europe, North 
America, northern Africa, central 
Asia and the West Indies. There are 
many localities in the United States j 
STINKING SMUT Avliere it is rare or entirely absent. A j 
loss of 10 per cent or moi-e of the 
crop is often occasioned by loose smut, and even 
as high as 50 per cent, but usually it is not as de- 
structive as the stinking smuts. It seems to be 
more diflicult to prevent, however, so that when 
once introduced into a field, it is more apt to 
remain. 

Remedies. — Any means that destroy the vitality of 
the smut spores adhering to seed wheat but leave the 
latter unimpaired in its power of germinating are a 
safe- preventive of smutted wheat. There are several 
ways of accomplishing this easily and perfectly with 
the stinking smut. In all treatments by immersion in 
solution, the seed should first be stirred in water in 
order to skim off the smut balls. Slaked lime will 
hasten drying, but is not essential. If the seed is loose 
sown without drying, the drill must be set accordingly, smut 



160 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Corrosive Sublimate {Mercuric Chloride, Hg CI'.) — This 
may be used at the rate of 1 lb. to 50 gallons of water (2y2 
parts to 1,000). The wheat is piled upon a floor or canvas, and 
constantly shoveled Avhile it is being sprayed or sprinkled, until 
every grain is wet over its entire surface. The vise of more 
of the solution than is necessary to do this is injurious. The 
seed should then be dried. 

Copper Sulphate {Cu SO*). — One pound of crystallized (not 
powdered) commercial copper sulphate or bluestone is used to 
every 25 gallons of water. The grain is soaked 12 hours in 
this solution, being stirred occasionally. Then, to avoid in- 
juring the power of germination, it is immersed for a few 
minutes in limewater made by adding ten gallons of water to 
one pound of good slaked lime. 

Formalin. — One pound of formalin (the trade name for a 
40 per cent solution of formaldehyde) is diluted with 50 gal- 
lons of water. The grain is treated as in using coiTosive sub- 
limate. Each bushel of grain requires about one gallon of the 
solution. The grain is left in a pile for 2 or 3 hours, and is 
then spread out to dry. This method is not successful with 
formalin that is not a 40 per cent solution. Formalin rapidly 
loses its strength unless kept tightly corked, and careless or 
unscrupulous dealers sell a solution that is too dilute, or under 
Aveight on account of the bottles in which it is sold being below 
standard size. Formaldehyde vapor has also been found effec- 
tive in destroying stinking smut. 

Hot Water or Jensen Treatment. — It is claimed that this 
process was discovered by J. L. Jensen of Denmark, in 1887. 
Hot water and quicklime were used several years before this 
date. In this method the seed is placed loosely in a coarsely 
woven gunny sack or wire-covered basket, and then dipped in 
water having a temperature between 132 and 133° F. The vol- 
ume of water must be 6 or 8 times that of the seed treated at 
any one time. Lifting out and draining the grain 4 or 5 times 
during the treatment insui'es its coming in contact Avith Avater 
at the proper temperature. The treatment requires 10 min- 
utes. The grain should then be dried at once, or dipped in cold 
water and set aside until it can be dried. 

A Modified Hot Water Method is used in treating for loose 
smut, for this is not destroyed by any of the cures 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 161 

mentioned above. The grain is first soaked four hours 
in cold water, and set away in wet sacks for four 
hours more. It is then immersed for five minutes 
in water at 132° F. Some of the seed is killed by the treatment, 
and one-half more must be sown per acre. It has been claimed, 
however, that no sure method of destroying loose smut is known, 
and that the only available relief at present is to obtain clean 
seed from a smut-free district.' 

Results and Expenses. — These remedies seem to be entirely 
efficacious, and if properly and universally applied, there is no 
reason Avhy smut should not be practically eradicated from the 
wheat fields. Befoi-e the nature of smut was fully understood, 
one of the unexpected results of treating it was an increase 
in yield greater than the result of merely replacing the smutted 
heads with sound ones. This was explained when it was learned 
that smut Avas often present in the straw even though it did 
not reach the heads. Usually the increase in yield is two or 
three times as great as the visible smut, but may be six or 
more times as great. The methods of treatment are inexpen- 
sive. In the hot water method the cost is practically only the 
labor required. In some of the other methods the cost of 
chemicals is little more than would pay for the labor in the 
hot water treatment. Liquid formaldehyde, which is used quite 
extensively in the Northwest, is found very effective, and costs 
onlj' from three-fourths of one cent to two cents per acre. The 
treatment by sprinkling and shoveling is cheaper than dipping. 

Losses continue in spite of the fact that it has often been 
demonstrated that smuts are controllable. During the year 1902 
wheat smut caused a loss of 2.5 million dollars in the state of 
Washington alone. In the following year smut destroyed from 
10 to 50 per cent of the wheat in parts of Wisconsin. At 
Winnipeg 3 to 6 per cent of the wheat offered for sale during 
1904-5 was rejected on account of smut, and in 1905 as high as 
75 per cent of the wheat was destroyed by smut in parts of 
North Dakota. While seed wheat is very commonly treated 
for smut, these losses show that there is still need for more 
educational woi^k. It is necessary to demonstrate repeatedly 
the efficacy of the treatments in order to secure their adoption 
by the conservative farming element. This element continues 
1 Freeman, Minn. Plant Diseases (1905), p. 297. 



162 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



to grow smutted wheat because it has always done so, and be- 
cause the extent of the loss and the ease of its prevention are 
so little realized. Formerly at least one-fifth of the cereal 
crops was annually destroyed by smut. Smutty wheat intro- 
duces a large element of speculation into the business of ele- 
vator men, for it produces a very low grade of flour. Such wheat 
must be Avashed, an expensive process which also endangers the 
quality of the flour. From smutted flour the baker gets a poor, 
darkened product that finds little market. As a result smutted 
wheat is justly thrown into a very low, or ''rejected" grade. 

Rust. — What is popularly termed 
wheat rust may be the result of 
one or more of a number of rust 
fungi, parasitic plants. This dis- 
ease was mentioned by Virgil. It 
was known in Britain before 1592. 
Fontana (1767) is generally ac- 
credited with connecting rust of 
cereals with a specific fungus, 
which Persoon (1797) investigated 
more fully, and named. Three kinds 
of rusts are known to attack wheat. 
Puccinia coronata, the crown rust, 
is comparatively unimportant. The 
two distinctive rusts are Puccinia 
ruhigo-vera, the early, orange leaf-rust, and P. gram- 
inis, the late, stem-rust. The former is popularly called "red" 
and the latter "black" rust. Both species, however, produce 
first reddish and then black spores, but in the orange leaf-rust 
the red spores are far more abundant than the black ones, Avhile 
in the stem-rust the black spores arc the more abundant. 

Life History. — The wheat rusts belong to that type of 
fungi which have several stages of development represented by 
different types of spore formation and separated by two or 
more rest periods. The life history is the development of the 
fungus through all its stages, and it is said to be "known" 
when the experimenter can take one type of spore formation 
and from this produce artificially all of the other types in 
turn through the life cycle until a return is made to the type 
of spore formation Avith which ho began. Usually the types 




AECIDIA ON BARBERRY 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 



163 



of spores characteristic of the different stages in the life cycle 
of such a fungus are so different in form and character and so 
divergent in their modes of development and subsequent habits 
of growth as to mislead the investigator completely and excite 
no idea of relationship. Several entii'ely different types of hosts 
are frequently utilized in the life cycle. It is because of their 
complex life history that rusts have so long been shrouded in 
mystery and confusion, and inadequately undei'stood.^ 

The wheat rusts produce in order, from spring to spring, four 
different forms of spores. (1) Aecidiospores (injuring spores) 
are the first spores found in the year. They occur on shriabs, 
oi' herbs other than grasses. (2) Uredospores (blight spores) 
appear in the early summer, and are often called summer spores. 




TWO FORMS OF RUST SPORES COMMONLY FOUND ON WHEAT 

At tlie left is shown the uredospores of the red rust, commonly found in early 
summer. At the right, the two-celled teleutospores or winter spores of tlie 
black rust. 

These are the red spores that rust the leaf of the wheat. (3) 
Teleutospores (completion spores) are the last ones of the sea- 
son. They are also known as resting or winter spores. Their 
dark color gave rise to the term ''black rust." (4) Sporidia 
are very minute and delicate spore bodies formed in the spring 
on the germination tubes of the winter spores. The sporidia 
infect the plant that is host to the aecidium stage. The 
question of a breeding act in the rust life cycle is still an un- 
settled one. 

When the aecidiospore lodges upon the wheat leaf or stalk 
in tlie spring, it remains in a resting condition until a light 

1 The works of Bolley, Carleton and Freeman will be found 
most useful in a study of rusts. 



164 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



rain or dew furnishes sufficient moisture for germination. A 
small thread or filament is then sent out, which requires but 
an hour or two to pass through a breathing pore of the wheat 
plant, or, in the absence of a convenient breathing pore, to 
bore its way into the stem or leaf, within which a mycelium 
is formed. An ordinary dewdrop may contain hundreds of 
aecidiospores that have been wafted to it upon the air. The 
time required for the rust to break out as a spot or pustule, 
after the gennination of the infecting spore, varies from 8 to 
14 days, for it is dependent upon atmospheric conditions. This 
breaking out through the skin of the wheat 
plant is the result of the great numbers of 
ovoid spores that are formed, and these red 
summer spores, the uredospores, ai'e thus 
enabled to drop off and float away upon the 
air to other wheat plants. If moisture is 
present they germinate at once, and the en- 
tire above process is repeated. Several gen- 
erations of the red spores may be formed 
during one growing season. Countless myriads 
of spores are thus produced, a pustule 1-16 
by 1-64 of an inch in size containing over 
3,000 such spores. Under favoi'able conditions 
the rustiness of the grain increases with mar- 
velous rapidity. In the meantime the spore 
beds which produced the first red spores are 
not inactive, but are producing teleutospores, 
that is, the black winter or resting spores. 
These are thick-coated, Indian-club shaped, 
and two-celled. They may now also appear 
in new spore beds in which no red spores 
BLACK AND RED have first formed. Over 2,000 of these spores 
RUST have been counted in a pustule 1-16 by 

1-48 of an inch in size. No rest- 
ing spores have been obsei'ved to geraiinate until late in the 
following winter. When they sprout a germ tube (pro-mycelium) 
proceeds from each of their two cells. These germ tubes soon 
divide into four cells which immediately produce severel mi- 
nute, delicate cells known as sporidia. If sufficient moisture 
is present, the sporidia will germinate at once. If not, many 




DISEASES OF WHEAT 165 

of them may dry sufficiently to be carried by the wind, yet 
not enough to be injured. In the early spring months the 
damp straw and the ground and surface waters of an old wheat 
field may be swarming with countless millions of these sporidia, 
and clouds of them are wafted by the Avinds to distant points. 
No evidence has yet been secured, however, that the sporidia 
directly infect the wheat plant. Those of the stem rust infect 
the fruit and leaves of the barberry bush, and, as far as 
known, no other plants. Little cups and clusters of cups of 
yellow spor'^s are formed. The floors of the cups start pali- 
sade-like chains of the spores, which, when mature, again take 
wings with the Avind. These are the wheat infecting aBcidio- 
spores with which w^e began, and the life cycle is thus complete. 

At the present writing the life history of all wheat rusts is 
not perfectly and certainly known in all its phases, but it is 
quite conclusively known that in some cases certain stages of 
the life cycle which is given above (and which describes the 
stem rust more correctly aixl fully than any other) are not 
essential. The cluster cup form of rust, found on barberry 
bushes in black stem rust, forms on common wild plants of 
the borage family in the case of orange leaf rust. In Europe 
it forms on hound 's-tongue, but this stage of the rust seems 
to be absent in the United States. In crown rust of wheat the 
cluster cup stage commonly forms on the buckthorn. 

It is now established that the uredospores of a number of 
the important rusts, including Puccinia graminis, can pass the 
northern winter in viable form. Dried and scattered by the 
August and July winds, a very large per cent of these rust 
spores germinated after a dry fall and a North Dakota winter.' 
In the warmer climates the leaf rust not only survives the 
winter in the red spore stage, but forms new pustules every 
month of the year. Viable spores of both rusts successfully 
pass the winter frozen in snow and ice. The very early general 
infection by rust can hardly be explained by the wintering 
uredospores, however. Experiments by Bolley show quite con- 
clusively that the infection comes by way of the air and not by 
way of the soil. It is thought possible that rust filaments 
passing the winter in green plants, and also broken particles 
of the mycelium from the crop of the previous year, may aid in 
» Bolley, Science, N. S. 22:50-1. 



166 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

the infection. While it has been generally held that seed from 
rusted wheat will not transmit rust to succeeding crops/ the 
observations of Bolley in 1904 and 1905 proved that seed from 
badly rusted wheat plants was quite uniformly infected in- 
ternally, there being spore beds beneath the bran layer, con- 
taining both uredospores and teleutospores that subsequently 
germinated.' This demands a new line of investigation, for 
it has not yet been demonstrated whether or not the internally 
infected seeds will transmit the infection to the plants grown 
from them. Variations in the spore forms and in the com- 
plicated life cycle of rusts give them great strength in self- 
perpetuation, the different methods of which present several 
chances of escaping threatening destructions. Many wild 
grasses also serve as hosts for the wheat rusts. They may be 
infected from wheat and Avheat from them, which is another 
resource that aids rust in maintaining itself. 

Distribution of Rusts. — Rusts being true parasites able to 
live only in the tissue of some host, their distribution is co- 
extensive with that of their native hosts and that of the wheat 
crop, with one single restriction. Only in countries where no 
dews set and no rains fall are rusts absent, for moisture is es- 
sential to their first growth which causes the infection of the 
host plant. In iri"igated regions where dew and rain are lack- 
ing, wheat grows without being rusted. The leaf rust is most 
regular in its occurrence and is also most widely and univer- 
sally distributed. It is the most common rust of Australia and 
India, and in the United States it is most abundant in the At- 
lantic and southern states. The stem rust is irregular in its 
occurrence, usually missing one or two years in five or six", es- 
pecially in some localities. In the United States the severe 
attacks occur most frequently in the eeijtral states, and in 
parts of Texas and California. This rujst is very common in 
northern Europe, and in some seasons it is also quite abundant 
in Australia and Tasmania. It seems to be comparatively un- 
important in India.^ 

Conditions Favorable to Rust Development. — There must first 
be such a wind from infected districts as will bring plenty of 

1 U S. Dept. Agr., Farm. Bui. 219 (1905), p. 8; Minn. Press 
Bui. 24. 

= N. D. Bui. 68 (1906), p. 646. 

3 Carleton, Cereal rusts of U. S., pp. 21-22, 56-57. 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 167 

rust sj^ores to the heading Avheat. That the spores are thus 
brought to the wheat is shown by the fact that screened plants 
are not rusted, and that distilled water exposed to the air will 
gather great numbers of the spores in the short period of a 
half hour. The more soft and succulent the wheat straw is, the 
more open it is to rust infection. ''The most effective rust in- 
fection weather may be described as muggy, showery, sultry, 
rather still hot days, Avith foggy, cool, dewy nights, at about 
the blossom period. Just following the infection, cool, moist, 
slow growing, showery weather may result in the most general 
rust infection, and in the greatest breaking out or rupturing of 
the straw. ' ' ^ 

How Damage Results. — Rust deprives the wheat grains of 
their nourishment. The grains may be only slightly shriveled, 
or the crop may be completely ruined. It has been claimed that 
orange leaf rust does little damage to wheat, and that in very 
wet seasons it may even be of benefit to the grain by preventing 
superabundant growth of the vegetative parts. This has been 
denied I'ecently, howevei", and with good show of reason. It is 
pointed out that in 1904 and 1905 the leaf rust was so severe 
that the wheat grains Avilted and shriveled before the stem 
rust was well developed on the straw. The leaf rust may also 
delay the ripening of the crop i;ntil injury from frost results.^ 
Since the attack of the stem rust is the moi'e direct, it is un- 
questionably the more virulent. 

The Loss From Wheat Rust in the United States doubtless 
exceeds that caused by any other fungous or insect pest, and it 
may be greater than the loss from all other diseases combined. 
It is often not noticed because it is light. In one or another of 
the wheat growing sections, great areas are partially to nearly 
completely destroyed each year. While almost fabulous figures 
are required to record the estimated annual loss, the proba- 
bilities are that this is underestimated, for the slight, unnoticed 
attacks never enter the computation. If the loss is but 1 per 
cent of the wheat crop, it approximates $5,000,000 annually in 
the United States alone. Bolley examined the wheat fields of 
North Dakota for fourteen seasons, and, leaving out of con- 
sideration the years of great destruction, he estimated the 

1 N. D. Bui. 68 (1906), p. 655. 

- N. D. Bui. 68 (1906), pp. 651-654. 



168 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

average annual loss at 10 per cent. In 1903 the loss in southern 
Wisconsin was 50 per cent and in South Carolina 30 per cent. 
In 1904 the wheat crop of Minnesota and the Dakotas was 
most promising, but in a few days it was so damaged by rust 
that experts estimated the loss for the three states at 30,000,000 
bushels, and the wheat that was produced in many instances 
weighed only from 36 to 48 pounds per measured bushel. Many 
fields were not harvested. Twenty million dollars seems a rea- 
sonable estimate for the average yearly loss from wheat rust 
in the United States. Immense annual losses are suffered by 
the Australian, Russian and Argentine wheat fields. In some 
years the loss in England is 50 per cent. Nor is this the only 
fonn of loss that must be attributed to rust, for it is one of 
the chief hindrances that entirely prevent the gx'owing of 
wheat in parts of certain moist warm countries, such as China 
and Japan. 

Remedies. — Thus far rust has baffled every attempt at a 
remedy. Fungicides and spraying have been experimented with, 
but indirect methods are the only ones that have proved of 
any aid in the combat. All conditions are helpful that tend to 
mature the wheat crop before the rust becomes abundant. 
Fields should be properly drained. Good clean seed of a pure 
variety and of the best germinating powers should be sown 
in soil properly prepared. The seeding should be early, and the 
crop should be kept free from smut and weeds. All of these 
things strengthen the Avheat plant and hasten its growth. Ro- 
tation of crops is also advantageous. Wild grasses and weeds 
of the roadsides should be mow^n, and all bai'berry shrubs should 
be killed. The fields should be kept free from volunteer grains. 
The line of demarcation between the winter and spring wheat 
belts should be sharply drawn, for the winter wheat, ripening 
early, develops rust in such abundance that it will greatly 
injure the later spring wheat. The early maturity of winter 
varieties generally enables them to escape serious damage. 

One of the most hopeful phases of the question is that some 
varieties of wheat are quite rust resistant. The different rusts 
are each more easily resisted by certain varieties of wheat. 
Thousands of varieties have been tested and bi-ed to secure 
rust resistance. None are absolutely rust proof. "So far as 
the ordinary wheats are concerned, the resistant varieties ai-e. 



DISEASES OF WHEAT 169 

as a rule, somewhat dwarfed, are close and compact, and stool 
but little. The leaves, comparatively few in number, are stiff, 
narrow and erect, with a more or less tough, dry cuticle, often 
with a glaucous or waxy surface; heads compact and narrow; 
and grains hard, red, small and heavy.'" 

Varieties likely to prove considerably resistant to rust in the 
Onited States, if they are sown early, are, Kharkof, Turkey, 
Mennonite, Pringles No. 5, Rieti, Odessa and Pringle's De- 
fiance for winter wheats, and Haynes Blue Stem and Saskat- 
chewan Fife for spring wheats. 

Durum wheats are much more resistant than other varieties. 
During the great rust attack of 1904 in the noi'thwest, the 
maximum loss for durum wheat seems to have been about 10 
per cent while that of ordinary wheats was frequently as great 
as 50 per cent. The different varieties of durum wheat also 
vary in their power to resist rust, two of the best being lumillo 
and Velvet Don. ''Rerraf" is one of the best rust resisters in 
Australia, but is quite non-resistant in the United States. 

Other Diseases. — Leaf blight {Septosphaeria tritici Pass.) and 
Powdery mildew {Erysiphe graminis D. C.) occasionally cause 
slight losses in certain sections. 

> Carleton, Cereal Rusts of U. S., p. 21. 



CHAPTER X. 
INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 

Species, — It has been estimated that there exist 1,000,000 
species of insects of economic importance. About 100 species 
feed upon growing wheat, and about 50 more are found in 
granaries. Less than a dozen occasion enough loss to wheat to 
be of very great importance. Conditions in the United States 
are most favorable for insects, because the continuous growing 
of the same grain crops over wide areas, and long, hot sum- 
mers are very proiDitious for the multiplication of most species. 
On account of differences in climatic conditions and in the 
abundance of parasitic and other enemies, there is a periodicity 
in the recurrence of grain pests. Since a season favorable to 
one insect may be unfavorable to another, there is also a more 
or less marked rotation of different species. 

Hessian Fly {Maijetiola destructor Say). — Wheat is the natu- 
ral food plant of this insect, which is also supposed to be 
native to Asia. It was introduced into America from Europe. 
The Revolutionary patriots believed that it was contained in 
some straw brought over by the Hessian troops, hence its 
name. Some of the ignorant Tory element claimed that General 
Washington was responsible for its introduction. It was first 
described technically in 1817. 

Distribution. — The natural spread of the Hessian fly has 
been estimated at 20 miles per year. It is now found in nearly 
all parts of the United States east of the 100th meridian, and 
on the Pacific coast (since 1884) probably from southern Cali- 
fornia to British Columbia. In Canada it has been found 
from Prince Edward Island to Indian Head, Saskatchewan. It 
also occurs in North Africa, western Asia, Europe and the 
Britisli Islands. It has been an important grain pest in New 
Zealand since 1888. 

Description and Life History. — The adult Hessian fly is 
very fragile, dark-colored, and about i/g inch long. It is about 
half as large as the mosquito, wliich it resembles. Even when 

170 



INSECT ENEMIES OP WHEAT 



171 



comparatively abundant it will escape the notice of the ordi- 
nary observer. It can be caught with a sweeping-net, but is 
easily confused with other insects taken at the same time. The 
fly seems to be two brooded in all parts of the United States. 
In the north the broods follow each other in quick succession, 
while in the south they are widely separated. The egg of the 
insect is about 1-50 inch long. The newly hatched larva or 
maggot is slightly smaller than the egg. The fully developed 
larva is larger, and on account of its resemblance to a seed 
of flax it is known as the flaxseed. In fall wheat the fly passes 
the winter in the young plants, principally in the flaxseed stage, 
but also in the larval stage, not quite full grown. The flies 




HESSIAN fly: a, female; &, male; c, eggs. enlarged 



emerge from the flaxseeds when the wheat is about 2 inches 
high. The time varies from March in Georgia to May in Mich- 
igan. Flies from wintering larvae appear later. The eggs are 
deposited in the grooves on the upper surface of the wheat 
leaves, fi-om 100 to 300 by each female fly. They are difficult 
of perception, even by one who has good eyesight. In a few 
days the eggs hatch into a pinkish larvae that soon turn 
greenish, and descend to just above the roots, or, if the wheat 
has jointed, to the base of the particular leaves on which they 
were hatched. Sucking the juices from the growing wheat 
plant, these larvae attain the flaxseed stage in about 4 weeks, 
the time being dependent on the weather. The prolonged 
southern summer during which there is little food for the 



172 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



larvaB, is passed in the stubble in the flaxseed stage. In Mich- 
igan the fall brood appears about the last of August, while jn 
Georgia it appears about 3 months later. The eggs are now 
deposited on the young fall wheat, and the life cycle begins over 
again. In regions far north there may be only one brood, 
and in the south there may be supplemental broods, both in 
the spi-ing and fall, this being dependent on the weather. 
Drought prolongs the flaxseed stage. 

In the spring wheat regions the insects winter in the flaxseed 
stage, chiefly in stubble, but also in volunteer wheat. Egg 
laying begins late in May and continues to October 1st. Eggs 
are often deposited on grass and weeds, but the larvae are not 
known to survive except on wheat, barley and rye. The fly 





^^"'c 



HESSIAN fly: «, adult; h, pupa; c, larva, enlarged 

is now known to flourish even where spring crops are exclusive- 
ly grown. 

Effect of Larvae on Wheat. — At first the plant seems to 
be stimulated, and turns a dark green color. Later the in- 
fested tillers turn a brownish and then a yellowish color. If 
the attack comes early, and the plant fails to tiller, death re- 
sults. If the plant has tillered, some stalks may escape and 
form the basis for a crop. The larvae are usually found just 
above the first joint, but may be found from above the third 
joint to below the soil. The stalk is usually so Aveakened that 
it breaks to the ground, when the wheat is said to be "straw 
fallen." 

Losses. — The Hessian fly is the worst insect enemy of 
growing wheat. It is never entirely absent. The minimum 



INSECT ENEMIES OP "WHEAT 173 

annual damage to wheat is thought to average 10 per cent of 
the crop, that is, over 50,000,000 bushels. In some localities 
an injury varying from 50 per cent to total failure is not in- 
frequent. In 1901 the loss in New York was about $3,000,000, 
and the loss in Ontario was nearly as great. In 1900 it was 
$16,800,000 in Ohio, and nearly two-thirds of the Indiana wheat 
was not harvested on account of the fly. The outbreak of the 
Hessian fly in 1900 was the most notable of recent years. The 
total loss for the United States was estimated at $100,000,000, 
and milling operations were seriously hampered in the worst 
affected region. The damage which the fly does is often laid 
to rust, drought or other causes. In 1904 there was little com- 
plaint of damage from the insect, yet many fields in the Ohio 
valley were injured to the extent of over 50 per cent. 

Remedies. — There are a number of natural enemies which 
attack the Hessian fly in the larval and pupal stages. Some 
are native, and othei's are being artifieally introduced. While 
they limit the damage, they are useful mainly where other 
preventives are neglected. The best remedy for a field of wheat 
severely attacked is to plow deeply, and plant a spring crop. 
In case of mild infection, the prompt use of fertilizer may in- 
crease the tillering of the wheat so as to produce a partial 
crop. If the crop has a good growth pasturing or cutting in 
tlie fall may be beneficial. When injuries from the fly may 
be anticipated, moderately late planting of winter wheat is 
perhaps the best preventive. Seeding for this purpose should 
be about the middle of September in the northern districts, 
during the first half of October in Kentucky, and during the 
first half of November in the extreme south. The rotation of 
crops should be practiced. Burning or plowing under the 
stubble is of great advantage. The fly can be starved out 
almost completely over a district of any size by abandoning 
for one year the culture of wheat, rye and barley. Volunteer 
grains should also be destroyed. Early plantings of trap or 
decoy crops will attract the flies, and, after ovipositing, these 
crops may be plowed under deeply. While no varieties of 
wheat are absolutely **fly proof," some tiller more and are 
less injured than others, such as Underbill, Mediterranean, 
Red Cap, Red May and Clawson. Preventive measures reduce 
the annual loss from the Hessian fly by an amount estimated 



174 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 for the wheat crop alone. 
The insect shifts so rapidly from place to place that remedies 
are practically of no avail unless there is concerted action in 
an infected region/ 

Chinch Bug {Blissus leucopterus Say). — This is a native 
insect. Its ravages were first noticed toward the close of the 
eighteenth century, and since that time notable outbreaks and 
serious losses have been quite constant. It is now found from 
Nova Scotia and Manitoba southward to the Gulf of Mexico, 
as well as on the Pacific coast, in Mexico and Central America, 
and on several of the West Indian Islands. The genus Blissus 
is widely distributed over the Old World. It is a gregarious 




CHINCH bug: various stages from egg to adult enlarged 



pest, and its desti'uetiveness is due to this fact rather than to 
its enormous numbers. 

Life History. — Hibernating in grass stools, straw, rubbish 
or other shelters, the chinch bug begins its life cycle by a 
spring flight to the wheat fields. The mating occurs at the 
wheat roots. The eggs are deposited about May 1st, from 100 
to 500 by each female, and the egg period is of 2 or 3 weeks' 
duration. The young hatch in about 2 weeks, and at maturity 
in July they make a second flight to late corn, millet or other 
crops. In this country, except in northern regions, a second 
brood appears after this flight. The second brood is most in- 
jurious in August and matures in September and October. It 
is the first brood that injures wheat, while both broods attack 
other ci'ops. A short-winged form incapable of flight fre- 
quently occurs, especially in maritime disti'icts. There are a 
number of species of Hemiptera that are often mistaken for 
chinch bugs. 

^ Marlett, Principal Insect Enemies of Growing Wlieat; Osborn, 
Hessian Fly in the United States. 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 175 

The Chief Losses are occasioned in the Ohio and upper 
Mississippi valleys, and on the Atlantic coast highland. It 
does more damage to wheat than to any other crop, and the 
average annual loss is about 5 per cent of the crop.^ In years 
when the chinch bugs were unusually severe, the damage to 
wheat in single states has been estimated to be from ten to 
twenty million dollars. The losses are great because of the 
wide distribution of the pest, its prevalence to some extent 
every year, and its enomious multiplication in favorable sea- 
sons. 

Remedies. — (1) Burning over the land; especially should 
this be done on waste and grass lands, and all rubbish should 
be burned. Grass is not injured by being burned over after 
the ground is frozen. It has been thought that the chinch bug 
Avas kept in check by the annual prairie fires in the early years 
of our country, the hibernating bugs being thus killed. Chinch 
bugs and other insects injurious to growing grain are practi- 
cally unknown on the Pacific coast, where the large wheat 
fields ai*e regularly burned over every year by burning the 
straw. (2) Trap or decoy crops, such as millet or Hiingarian 
grass; these should be plowed under. When the young insects 
hatch, they easily reach the surface, but will perish if no 
crops are near. (3) Rotation; this involves a system disas- 
sociating small grains from corn. (4) Plov/ing; deeply plow- 
ing under the bugs collected on the edge of a field is help- 
ful. (5) Spraying; the edge of the field infested may be 
sprayed with a very strong oily insecticide, even if the crop is 
killed with the bugs. (6) Protecting furrows. (7) Coal-tar 
barriers. (8) Artificial spreading of parasitic fungi; consid- 
erable work has been done in this line, with the conclusion that 
it is of little value. The bug is practically exterminated for 
the season, however, by wet weather and various fungous dis- 
eases which this causes. (9) Many bugs are also destroyed by 
birds, especially quails.^ 

The Wheat Midge {Diplosis iriiici Kirby) belongs to the 
same order of insects as the Hessian fly, but in appearance and 
habit it is entirely distinct. It is believed to be identical with the 
notorious wheat midge of Europe, and it may also have been in- 

1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1904, p. 466. 

= Webster, The Chinch Bug; Howard, The Chinch Bug. 



17G 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



troduced into America in straw. It probably appeared first 
in Quebec, and has now spread throughout the Mississippi 
valley. The injury is inflicted by its orange-yellow larvae which 
extract the milky juice from the embryos forming in the wheat 
heads, thus causing the grain to shrivel and the heads to 
blight. In cases of unusual outbreaks the average losses of 
whole states have been from two-thirds to three-fourths of the 
entire yield. The wheat midge oviposits directly in the wheat 
head. The eggs hatch in about a week, and the larvae enter 
the kernel at once. They have extraordinary vitality, thrive 
best in moist weather, and winter in the ground, which they 
enter about three weeks after hatching. Plowing old wheat 




WHEAT midge: (l, FEMALE; l), MALE; C, LARVA. ENLARGED 



fields deeply, burning the chaff and screenings of wheat from 
infested fields, and rotating crops are preventives. 

The Wheat Plant Lice cause injury by sucking their food 
from the soft, forming kernels. The yield may be reduced by 
as much as one-half, but extensive damage rarely occurs. The 
annual loss is thought to be at least 2 per cent. 

Locusts or Grasshoppers. — The locust, formerly present in 
some years in such overwhelming numbers that large swarms 
devastated extensive areas of all vegetation, has during the last 
decade ceased to be of such great economic importance. Locust 
plagues seem to occur occasionally on all of the continents, 
and do not seem to be limited to comparatively newly settled 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 177 

regions. From 1889 to 1897 they wrought frightful havoc in 
Argentina, visiting 347,000,000 acres in the latter year, and 
destroying 30 per cent of the crops. From 1897 to 1900 the 
Argentine government spent over $7,000,000 in an attempt to 
exterminate them. The limit of the invaded region was steadily 
pushed northward, until in 1901 locusts were entirely absent 
from the wheat area. They came into Argentina from Bo- 
livia, the territory of the Chaco, and western Brazil. Bar- 
celona, Spain, rej^orted a plague of locusts spreading in 1902. In 
west central Asia, between Askabad and Krasnovodsk, the cereal 
and cotton crops are commonly devastated by locusts. In 1903, 
50,000 roubles were set aside to be devoted to the destruction 
of the insects' eggs in trans-Caspia. It is claimed that sacked 
flour piled on open railway trucks near Krasnovodsk was de- 
voured by clouds of rapacious locusts in an incredibly short 
time.^ 

In the United States during the early seventies the grass- 




h 

WHEAT plant-louse: a, WINGED ADULT; h, FEMALE*, C, NYMPH. 

ENLARGED 

hoppers used to invade Kansas "so they would block railroad 
trains and destroy all vegetation."' In the Red river valley 
they appeared in great clouds which "cleaned the country 
quite thorouglily on their flight."^ These invasions seem to 
have come mainly from the permanent breeding grounds of the 
Rocky Mountain locust {Caloptenus spretus Uhler). These 
grounds were located approximately between the meridians of 
102 and 112 degrees, and between the 40th and 55th parallels. 

1 Mo. Sum. Commerce and Finance, Feb., 1904, p. 2818. 

- Industrial Commission, 10:759. 

3 Proc. Tri-State Grain Growers' Ass'n. 1900, p. 184. 



178 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

East of this territory was a frequently invaded strip about five 
degrees in width. A great scope of territory farther east, 
south, and west was periodically visited when the natural con- 
ditions on the permanent breeding grounds were such as to 
produce myriads of grasshoppers. They could live only one 
generation on the lower lands, and then perished. Large por- 
tions of their grounds are now cultivated, and tliis restricts 
their multiplication. It is thus perhaps impossible for such 
overwhelming swarms to occur as formei'ly. Such swaiTns as 
do occasionally appear are more localized, and not of such un- 
controllable magnitude. They may still be relatively abund- 
ant, however. During 1901 in Canada, several hundred insects 
could be seen "to the yard," and ''dead locusts could be 
gathered up in wagon loads and at times be smelt for half a 
mile," after poison had been used. In Montana they fre- 
quently devastate ranges so that the herds must seek pasture 
elsewhere. 

The Rocky Mountain Locust lays its eggs in almost any kind 
of soil, p)-eferably in bare, sandy places on high and dry ground. 
They are laid chiefly in the first inch of soil, and in masses or 
pods surrounded by a mucous fluid, each pod containing about 
30 eggs. The average laying season extends over 6 to 10 weeks, 
and about 3 egg masses are formed by each female. The time of 
hatching depends entirely on the climate and latitude. While 
the young locust is very active, it will remain almost stationary 

if food is plenty. The migrating 
propensity is developed only after 
the first molt, and frequently not 
until after the second or third. 
When food becomes scarce the lo- 
custs migrate, often in a body a mile 
'^ ^ V. Avide. From the very first they con- 
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GRASS- ^^'^g'^^^ ^"^^ ^i^P^'^y gregarious in- 
hopper; a, pupa; 6, full ^t"icts. They feed as they advance, 
GROWN larva; c, young l^f «"^-i"g' everything in their path. 
LARVA. NATURAL SIZE. " ^^^^ """^^ numerous enough to 
devastate a region, they are forced 
to feed upon one another, and immense numbers perish 
from debility and starvation. They usually move only 
during the warmer hours of the day, and in no particular 




.^, 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 179 

direction, but purely in search of food. They generally 
march for one day, however, in the direction begun. If 
the vanguard does change its course, the new direction seems 
to be communicated in some way to those in the rear, which 
follow in wave-like form. There sometimes occurs the singular 
spectacle of two schools crossing each other, the individuals 
of each keeping to their own course. Some remarkable records 
have been made of phenomena resulting from the encountering 
of obstacles to the march. In Europe Dongingk claims to have 
seen them cross the Dniester for over one German mile, and in 
layers 7 or 8 inches thick. ''In 1875, near Lane, Kansas, they 
crossed the Pottawatomie Creek, which is about 4 rods wide, by 
millions; while the Big and Little Blues, tributaries of the 
Missouri, near Independence, the one about 100 feet wide at 
its mouth and the other not so wide, were crossed at numerous 
places by the moving armies, which would march down to the 
water's edge and commence jumping in, one upon another, till 
they would pontoon the stream, so as to effect a crossing. Two 
of these mighty annies also met, one moving east and the other 
west, on the river bluff, in the same locality, and each turning 
their course north and down the bluff, and coming to a perpen- 
dicular ledge of rock 25 to 30 feet high, passed over in a sheet 
apparently 6 or 7 inches thick, and causing a roaring noise 
similar to a cataract of water." ^ 

Their unfledged existence terminates in about 7 weeks. During 
this time, even without change of direction, they could not 
travel over 30 miles. The swaims of winged insects will per- 
haps cover over an average advance of 20 miles a day. They 
spread most rapidly 4 or 5 days after they become winged, 
when, with a strong and favorable wind, they may reach a maxi- 
mum of from 200 to 300 miles a day, and 50 miles per houi'. The 
swarms generally move toward the south and southeast. This 
locust is single-brooded, dies wdth the approach of cold w^eather, 
and nonnally hibernates in the egg state. Other kinds of de- 
structive locusts occur, as lesser migratory, non-migratory, red- 
legged, California devastating, differential, two-striped, pel- 
lucid, and American Acridium, but the damage occasioned by 
these has never been comparable to that caused by the Rocky 
Mountain species. 

^ U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of Entomol., Bui. 25, pp. 21-22. 



180 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Kemedies. — Several methods are quite effective in bringing 
about tlie destruction of locusts. They have many natural 
enemies, such as parasitic fungi and insects and birds. These 
should be protected. Experiments have been made by intro- 
ducing fungi, especially from South Africa. They were arti- 
ficially spread, but with little success. Deep fall plowing for 
the destruction of the eggs is perhaps the best remedy known. 
In western Colorado ''ballooning" used to be practiced. The 
insects were caught in a large open sack by riding a horse 
rapidly across the field. A bounty of one cent a pound Avas 
paid for the insects, and the rider earned from $5 to $10 per day. 
Undoubtedly the most effective remedy after the locusts are 
hatched is to scatter bran or horse droppings poisoned with 
Paris green around the field before the locusts have entered it. 

In Argentina the best 
results were attained "by 
the use of torches dipped 
in tar." The great abun- 
dance of locusts in cer- 
tain years is doubtless the 
result of a coincidence 
of climatic conditions fa- 
vorable to their develop- 
ment and the absence to 
a great degree of natural 
destroyers. 
The Spring Grain Aphis {Toxoptera graminum Rond). — This 
species, popularly called the "green bug," was first described 
in 1852, and 30 years later it was discovered in America. It is 
found most abundantly in the southwest. This pest can be 
found in the wheat fields dui'ing any year, throughout the in- 
fested region, but it is rather erratic in its outbreaks. In ordi- 
nary seasons it is held in check by its natural enemies. It is 
extensively parasitized, and lady beetles devour both young and 
old. It can withstand a lower temperature than its enemies, 
however, and outbreaks occur after a mild, open winter fol- 
lowed by a late and wet spring. Such outbreaks occurred in 
1890, 1900 and 1907. In the soutli it may breed all winter, and 
it has an enormous rate of increase. The eggs are laid among 
the grain plants in the fields. AVheat and rye are the chief 




SPRING GRAIN-APHIS OR GREEN 
BUG. ENLARGED 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 181 

foods, but the insect thrives on the other cereals also, and on 
orchard grass. Late sowing is a preventive measure. 

Other Insect Enemies. — The most important of these are the 
wlieat straw-worms, the wheat bulb worm, the cut-wonns, the 
joint worm, several species of sawflies, and the army worms. 
The damage caused is local and not great. Most of them can 
be more or less controlled. 

The total loss from insect enemies of growing wheat is es- 
timated to average at least 20 per cent of the crop. That is, 
in the absence of attacks from these pests, the wheat crop 
would have a value approximately $100,000,000 greater than it 
now has. 

General Eiemedies. — Cultivation upsets the equilibrium es- 
tablished by nature. The resulting environment may be so 
favorable for the development of an insect as to enable it to 
multiply beyond all previous proportions. The most obvious 
remedy is to render the conditions unnatural for the insect 
concerned. Intelligent control presupposes a working knowl- 
edge of the insects to be controlled, and frequently the first 
step to be taken by the American wheat grower is the gaining 
of this knowledge. Entomological difficulties must be forecast 
and forestalled. The state agricultural experiment station or 
the Department of Agriculture can always aid in this, for there 
is a fairly effective remedy known for every insect of great 
importance. 

Where such large areas are involved as in wheat raising, 
remedies must be largely preventive and general. Summer fal- 
lowing and ci'op rotation are the most effective. These re- 
sult fatally for many insects which are not equipped for en- 
countering the sudden destruction of vegetation, or the abrupt 
displacing of one kind by another. Even if insects are able to 
migrate from one field to another, disaster from adverse winds, 
storms, heat or cold may result to the migrants, especially if 
they are such frail insects as the Hessian fly or the wheat 
midge. Good seed should always be sown, and in well prepared 
soil, for a vigorous crop can best withstand attacks. 

Insect Enemies of Stored Wheat. — Several species of insects, 
popularly known as weevils, cause extensive injury to stored 
wheat. Commerce has distributed them to all quarters of the 
globe. In warm climates these insects live an outdoor life, 




182 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Avhile in the colder parts of the temperate zones they pass an 
artificial or domestic existence. Not only do they occasion 
loss in weight, but the grain which they infest is unfit for con- 
sumption either by man or by most animals, and cannot be used 
profitably for seed. Three species of insects injuring stored 
wheat pass their adolescent stages within the kernel and are 
universally the most injurious forms. They are the rice and 
granary weevils and the Angoumois grain moth. 

The Granary Weevil (Calandra granaria L.). — From the 
earliest times this weevil was known as an enemy to stored grain. 

It became domesticated ages ago, 
lost the use of its wings, and is 
now strictly an indoor species. 
After the grain of wheat is punc- 
tured bj' the snout of the female, 
an egg is inserted. The resulting 
larva makes room for its transfor- 
GRANARY WEEVIL, ADULT mations within the kernel by de- 
AND LARVA. ENLARGED vouring the mealy interior. The 
grains of most cereals are inhabited 
by a single larva, but several individuals can thrive in a 
kernel of maize. The length of the life cycle and 
the number of generations annually pi'oduced depend on 
season and climate. In southern United States there may be 
six or more generations per year. One pair is estimated to 
produce 6,000 descendants in a single year. Besides wheat, 
they attack all the other grains, and the chick-pea. The greatest 
damage is caused by the long-lived adults, which gnaw into the 
kernels for food and shelter. 

The Rice Weevil {Calandra oryza L.) resembles the granary 
weevil in structure and habits. It differs from the granary 
weevil most essentially in having well developed wings, and 
consequently being often found in the field. It lays its eggs 
in the standing grain in the tropics, and in the extreme south 
of the United States, where it is erroneously called ''black 
weevil." It originated in India, was first found in rice, and is 
now established in most of the grain growing countries of the 
world. 

The Angoumois Grain Moth {Sitotroga cerealella 01.). — Since 
1736 the injuries of this moth have been noticed in the province 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 183 

of Angoumois, France, from Avliich it received its name. In 
the United States it was noticed as early as 1728, and is often 
incorrectly called ^'iiy weevil." It is widely spread and does 
incalculable damage in the southern states. It is rapidly 
spreading, and where it has become established it is more in- 
jurious than the weevils, also attacking grain in the field as far 
north as central Pennsylvania. 

The adult insect is often mistaken for a clothes moth. The 
eggs are deposited in standing grain and in the bin, singly or in 
clusters of from 20 to 30. It requires at 
least 4 days for the eggs to hatch. The 
minute larvae or catei-pillars burrow into 
the kernels for food, and in 3 weeks or 
more they are matured. A silken cocoon is 
then spun Avithin the kernel, the caterpillar 
transforms to a pupa or chrysalis, and in 

GRAIN MOTH, ADULT ^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^^j^ -^ ^^^-^^ ^^^ ^.j^^ ^^-^^ 

In favorable weather the life cycle requires 

ENLARGED r i j i 4. o j. 

5 weeks, and about o generations are pro- 
duced annually in the south, where the insect breeds all Avinter. 

The Mediterranean Flour Moth {Ephestia Jcuehniella Zell.). 
— The most important of all mill insects, it Avas comparatively 
unknoAvn before 1877, Avhen it Avas discovered in Germany. Its 
appearance was noticed in England in 1886, in Canada in 1889, 
in California in 1892, and in New York and Pennsylvania in 
1895. While its range is yet limited, it is rapidly becoming dis- 
tributed throughout the civilized Avorld. The high and equable 
temperature maintained in modern mills has made the insect a 
formidable one, for this condition is highly favorable to its 
development. 

Cylindrical silken tubes are fonned by the catei*pillars. They 
feed in these until full groAvth is attained, Avhen a neAV silken 
domicile is foiTned. This becomes a cocoon in which occur the 
transformations to pupa and imago. In the warmest weather 
the life cycle is passed in 38 days. It is the habit of web 
spinning that renders the insect most injurious. Infested flour 
is soon felted together so as to clog the milling machinery, 
necessitating prolonged and costly stoppage. Flour or meal 
is preferred by the larva, but in the absence of these it attacks 
grain, and it flourishes on bran and all prepared cereal foods, 



184 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



including crackers. In California it lives in "^.he hives of honey 
bees. 

Other Insect Enemies of stored wheat and its products are 
the Indian-meal moth, the meal snout-moth, the flour beetles, 
the meal worms and the grain beetles, which all occasion more 
or less damage. As warm weather favors the rapid breeding of 
all of these insects, the losses are enormous in the wanner 
climates. In the single state of Texas, the weevils alone are 
estimated to cause an annual loss to all grains of over $1,000,000. 




FLOUR MOTH : a, ADULT ; h, PUPA ; C, LARVA. ENLARGED 



Grain infested by the Angoumois grain moth may lose 40 per 
cent in weight and 75 per cent in farinaceous matter in 6 
months. 

Remedies. — Nearly all the insect enemies of stored grain have 
parasitic or predaceous enemies, or both. Mites and spiders 
prey on them, and several species of chalcis flies parasitize 
them. In the field they are preyed upon by nocturnal insects, 
birds and bats. Preventives and inseeticidal remedies are 
known. Bisulphide of carbon (one pound to one ton of grain 
or to 1,000 cu. ft. of empty space) is the best insecticide, and 
naphthaline the most effective deterrent. Hydrocyanic-acid 
gas is used in fumigating mills to rid them of the Mediterranean 
flour moth. Perhaps the largest operation of this kind ever 
made was that of exterminating the moth in a six-stoiy mill 
and its warehouse, cleaning house, and elevator, a total of over 
3,000,000 cubic feet of space. A ton of cyanide of potash and 



INSECT ENEMIES OF WHEAT 185 

a ton and a half of sulpliuric acid were used. Only two living 
worms and one moth Avere found, after the operation. It will 
perhaps require years for the mill again to become so infested as 
to need another treatment. 

There is no weevil-proof wheat, but the small, hard-grained 
varieties are little troubled by insects. Advantageous prac- 
tices for prevention are prompt threshing, inspecting, quaran- 
tining and disinfecting grain and everything connected with it; 
scrupulous cleanliness; construction of warehouses and mills to 
exclude insects; use of improved machinery in mills; and stor- 
age in large bulk in a cool, dry, well-ventilated repository.^ 

General Needs and Results. — With a better and increasing 
knowledge of farm management, of cultural system, and of the 
natural destroyers of wheat, it should require less than a gen- 
eration of time to doi;ble the yield of wheat per aci'e. Thirty 
per cent is certainly a very reasonable figure to represent the 
average annual loss to wheat from attacks by natural agencies 
of destniction. One of the greatest immediate needs is to im- 
press the wheat grower with the fact of this loss, for it is often 
little realized, especially when it results from invisible or un- 
perceived instrumentalities of disease that secretly tread their 
way through field and plant over great areas of the wheat 
regions. 

To minimize the effects of this great host of natural de- 
stroyers of wheat is a task that is profitable, certain of re- 
ward, and most imperative in its demands for attention. Since 
wheat is raised the world around in temperate zone climates, 
there is little danger of a world famine in wheat on account of 
their combined effects, for there is always a great probability 
that large areas will meet with normal conditions. An unusual 
coincidence of abnormal conditions over wide regions in differ- 
ent parts of the world may, however, raise the price of wheat 
and greatly change the magnitude and direction of the com- 
mercial streams of , wheat over the entire world. Such a 
coincidence occurred in 1897, when the world's wheat crop was 
greatly reduced by drought in India and Australia, by whole- 
sale destruction from insect pests in Argentina, by a wet har- 
vest in France, and by inundation of the wheat fields of Aus- 
tria-Hungary. 

* Chittenden, Some Insects Injurious to Stored Grain. 



186 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Insurance. — While scientific and artificial means may lessen 
losses in many directions, the positive conditions in nature 
which make possible the operation of natural destroyers of 
wheat are quite beyond the sphere of man's dominion. In 
some eases the loss occasioned can be reduced to a small con- 
stant factor by means of insurance. This is especially true 
of loss by storm or fire. Hailstorms occur somewhere every 
season, but are generally of vei'y limited area, frequently ex- 
tending over but a few square miles of territory. Consequently 
a small premium affords protection. Available data concern- 
ing wheat insui'ance are not at all complete or satisfactory. 
The insurance of wheat in the field is embraced in the more 
genei'al subject of the insurance of crops against destruction by 
hail and wind. Companies insuring crops frequently also in- 
sure other forms of property. In Scotland, hail insurance 
existed at least as early as 1780. The first known insurance 
against hailstorms in Germany is believed to have been in 
1797, when the Mecklenburg Hail Insurance Association of 
Germany was founded. This company was still in existence in 
1878. For the first 50 years of its career there was an average 
rate of 3.8 per cent of the amount insured. In 1812 another 
company was formed in Germany, having rates from 2.5 to 5 
per cent. In 1888 there were 20 mutual and 5 stock hail in- 
surance companies in Germany. 

An attempt at hail insurance in France was first made in 
1801, by M. Barrau, a philanthropic and enterprising man who 
was ahead of his time. He lost his fortune in the attempt, for 
it was thought to be an interference with the dealings of 
Providence; the government bureaus opposed the plan; and in 
1809 the council of state suppressed the society. Permanent 
hail insurance in France dates from 1823. The average premium 
received during the subsequent 50 years was 1.05 per cent, 
while the average loss was 0.81 per cent. The first hail in- 
surance in Austria was written in 1824, and in England in 
1842, the latter including 34 acres of wheat at $58.40 per acre. 
The whole risk was $4304.66, and paid a premium of 1.6 per 
cent, and also a stamp tax of $5.41. In the United States the 
first hail insurance was by the Mutual Hail Insui'ance Com- 
pany at Milwaukee, Wis., in 1850. It insured on the cash plan 
with premium notes. In 1878 it was doing business in 5 states. 



INSECT ENEMIES OP WHEAT 187 

At least as early as 1880 insurance of crops against fire was 
becoming popular in some sections of the United States. Dur- 
ing the eighth decade 38 hail and tornado insurance companies 
were transacting business. They were located in 12 different 
states ranging from Florida to Ohio, Colorado, Michigan and 
Connecticut. There is apparently no hail in California. 

There are at present numerous companies maintained in the 
north central states for the purpose of insuring crops against 
destruction by hail and wind. This sort of insurance generally 
seems to be confined to the co-operative, or assessment plan. 
The rate varies from 3 to 12 per cent, according to locality. In 
California several companies insure growing grain against 
fire at a rate of about 1 per cent per annum, but in the 
north central states no such insurance is written. In a few of 
these states there have been excessive losses in some years 
upon the hail loss branch of insui'ance. Canada also has a 
system of hail insurance. Extensive hail storms occur in Ar- 
gentina and in many districts insurance is generally secured 
by the colonists. 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 

The transportation of wheat has four divisions or aspects: 
(1) Transportation from the farm to the local market; (2) from 
the local market to the pi'imary market; (3) from the primary- 
market to the seaboard; and (4) from the seaboard to the 
foreign market. 

Transportation from Farm to Local Market. — On the Pacific 
coast of the United States all wheat is handled in sacks from 
the time it is threshed. This is the method of handling wheat 
in practically all foreign countries. Perhaps the only excep- 
tions to this are in very recent times in certain parts of Russia 
and in western Germany. In all parts of the United States 
except the Pacific coast, however, advantage is taken of the 
flowing quality of wheat by handling it in loose condition as 
soon as it reaches the elevator, and in some parts, as in the 
Red river valley, it is never sacked at all, but runs directly 
from the thresher into the wagon box or grain tank. In 
transporting wheat from the farm to the local market animal 
power is well-nigh universally used, whether it is transported 
on the back of the camel, as in Egypt or India; in the two- 
wheeled ox-cart, as in Argentina; in the two-horse wagon, as 
in Ohio; in the four-horse grain tank, as in North Dakota; or 
on the six-horse, double wagon, as on the Pacific coast. 

Transportation from Local Market to Primary Market. — The 
fact that the production, the internal movement, and the ex- 
portation of wheat are greater in bulk and value for the 
United States than for any other countiy attaches an un- 
usual interest to a study of the internal transportation of 
American grain. Those great railway centers into which the 
wheat of the surplus producing states is concentrated after the 
first stage of its movement from the producer are designated as 
the primary grain markets. The ten largest centers are Chi- 
cago, Minneapolis, Duluth-Supei'ior, St. Louis, Milwaukee, To- 
ledo, Kansas City, Peoria, Cincinnati and Detroit. An average 
of from 10,000,000 to 90.000,000 bushels of grain has been an- 
nually received by each of these cities. With one exception, 

188 



THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 189 

all of these primary markets are located at the points where 
the circumference of an irregular circle intersects the great 
inland waterways. From each of these centers radiates a 
fan-shaped net-work of railway lines. In the main, these lines 
extend to the noi'th, west and south. Sometimes over 25 grain 
carrying lines come from a single city. Not only do the rail- 
roads from any one city compete with each other as carriers 
of grain, but they also compete with the roads radiating from 
other cities. The competition is all the more intense because 
success or failure for certain primary markets in securing the 
grain often determines whether it goes to the Atlantic or Gulf 
seaports, and thence to the foreign markets. As a consequence 
the middle west is well equipped with railway mileage. The 
net earnings of the railway systems come largely from the grain 
traffic to the east and south, and from the traffic which this in- 
duces in the opposite direction. 

The movement of Avheat from the local markets of the pro- 
ductive areas to the primary centers for subsequent distribution 
is almost entirely by rail. There is very little water tran- 
sportation. In 1899, 50,000,000 bushels of wheat, corn and 
oats were received in St. Louis. The receipts by wagon were 
almost equal to those by water, which were little more than a 
million bushels. 

Chicago is the greatest primary grain center in the world, but 
on account of the great quantity of flour manufactured at Min- 
neapolis, the latter city stands pre-eminent in wheat. During 
the last decade, there has been a marked increase in the amount 
of wheat received at Kansas City and St. Louis; the amount at 
Minneapolis and Chicago has not varied ; and the amount at 
Duluth has declined. Buffalo is a great point of interior con- 
centration for the purpose of forwarding to Atlantic seaports. 

Transportation from Primary Market to Seaboard. — In every 
country the extensive growing and shipping of wheat is closely 
dependent upon the existence of adequate transportation fa- 
cilities. To the lack of these the comparative insignificance of 
the grain traffic of the United States in the eighteenth century 
was mainly due. This was before the railroad era; canals 
were developing but slowly; and highway transportation was 
too expensive to be practicable for any great distance. During 




Prom BtereogToph, copyright by TTDd«rwood & Underwood, New York. 

TRANSPORTATION OP WHEAT ON WATER 
ABOVE — A RIVER WHEAT TUG 
BELOW — A "WHALEBACK" STEADIER 
190 



THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 191 

the early decades of the nineteenth century, the main trans- 
portation of grain was by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers 
to the Gulf. Buffalo handled less flour than New Orleans as 
late as 1840. New Orleans received 221,000 barrels of flour in 
1832, and this rose to over a million annually in the sixth 
decade. The Erie canal, opened in 1825, turned the cereal 
movement eastward to New York, and soon that city became the 
chief commercicfl center of the western hemisphere. Already 
befoi'e the Civil war, the grain traffic of the Mississippi river 
began to decrease in comparison with that of the Great Lakes. 
In 1836 the first shipment of grain from Lake Michigan took 
place, and two yeai's later Chicago made its first consignment. 
The opening of the eastern route immediately shifted the wheat 
center westward and gave a great impetus to the development 
of the north central states. An all-rail route was established 
between Chicago and the Atlantic ocean in 1852. In 1859 the 
four leading wheat states were Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and 
Ohio, and they transported their surplus to the seaboard chiefly 
by water. When the Civil war closed the Mississippi river, 
freight rose so high "that it cost more than five times as 
much to transport a bushel of wheat from Iowa to New York 
as the fanner received for it."^ 

Shipments by rail began in 1856. By the seventh decade, the 
railroads had developed sufficiently to compete with the water 
route to the Atlantic coast. By the end of this decade the 
railroads Avere in the ascendancy in the struggle, having se- 
cured the bulk of the flour, and about two-thirds of all grains. 
On an average, however, only about one-third of the wheat has 
been carried by rail. On account of the favorable location 
of Chicago, the roads from this city have been most successful 
in the competition. As early as 1876, 83 per cent of all the 
grain shipped to the Atlantic seaboard was by rail. Much 
grain was and is shipped by a part water and part rail route, 
for the Erie canal has fallen into comparative disuse. A close 
parallel to this competition is found in the competition between 
the Canadian railways and the Welland canal. 

The participation of railroads in the eastern grain traffic 
in the United States and Canada, and also of the Welland canal 
in Canada, besides extending the grain area and severing it from 
^ 8th U. S. Census, Agriculture, p. xli. 



192 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

its dependence on the lake region, bad the important effect of 
creating direct routes from the west to seaboard cities other 
than New York and New Orleans. This resulted in a compe- 
tition between the Atlantic seaboard cities for the grain trade, 
and a considerable loss of traffic from New York to such cities 
as Montreal, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Of the com- 
peting roads to the Atlantic, the New York Central had the 
greatest natural advantages. By means of reckless competition, 
however, other roads wrested differential concessions from the 
Central. The trunk lines endeavored to equalize opportunities 
for securing eastward traffic by agreeing that the less favored 
roads should maintain rates that were lower in proportion to 
their disadvantages. This differential arrangement began in 
1869, and in different forms it has been maintained since that 
date. It has been claimed that New York was not as progress- 
ive as other Atlantic ports in methods of handling grain. The 
net resultant of the differential and of other causes was a 
decline in the proportion of the grain trade done by New Yoi'k, 
for grain could move more economically from the primary 
markets to Europe by way of ports north and south of New 
York; Chicago grain reached Eui'ope more largely through 
Canadian facilities. 

The southern movement of the grain traffic is the next phase 
to be considered. This is characterized by a competition first 
between the southern railroads and the Mississippi, and subse- 
quently between the southern and eastern railroads. It resulted 
in southern railroads securing the bulk of the grain traffic from 
the Mississippi, and they are diverting a continually increasing 
quantity of grain from the Atlantic coast. In 1873 New Or- 
leans participated to the extent of less than 0.5 per cent in the 
Avheat export. But little of the south-bound grain was then 
intended for export, while about 20 per cent of the east-bound 
grain was exported. In the early seventies about 75 per cent 
of the south-bound gTain was shipped by water and 25 per cent 
by rail. Before the close of the nineteenth century this ratio 
was reversed, less than 25 per cent of the grain being shipped 
by water. Thus the railroads, both on the eastern and southern 
routes, demonstrated their capacity to compete successfully with 
water transportation. For 50 years or more, competition among 
the I'ailroads, and between the railroads and the eastern water 



THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 193 

route, has centered in Chicago. The most recent phase of the 
competition for the great bulk of the wheat grown in the north 
central portion of the United States is that of the competition 
between the eastern and southern railroads. Of Atlantic ports, 
New York alone is falling behind in commerce. New York 
once held 75 per cent of the nation's commerce, but now holds 
less than 50 per cent. This tendency towards a division of 
commerce among different cities is eminently a healthful one. 
The construction of the New York state barge canal has been 
advocated as a means of enabling New York to regain and re- 
tain the grain trade. In view of the successful competition of 
the railroads with water routes, however, as well as the com- 
petition of the Canadian canal and the St. Lawrence, it is not 
pi'obable that the proposed canal would attain the object aimed 
at. The question is, however, still considered an open one. 

While differentials have exerted a great influence tending to 
distribute export grain among the different seaboard cities, the 
securing of through-railroad connections has also been a prime 
factor in diverting traffic. Within the past 15 years, New Or- 
leans and Galveston secured through connections, which enabled 
them to receive grain shipped from the primary markets of the 
southwest at a rate below that which was prevailing to the At- 
lantic seaboard. Consequently the importance of the Gulf cities 
as grain ports, and especially as wheat ports, has greatly in- 
creased. The percentage of wheat exported from the Gulf 
ports has risen steadily from 2 per cent in 1884 to 55 per cent 
in 1904, and the percentage for the Atlantic ports decreased 
from 59 per cent to 20 i:»er cent during the same period. The 
corresponding variations in the percentages for both wheat and 
flour were from 2 to 28 per cent for the Gulf ports, and from 
09 to 48 per cent for the Atlantic ports.^ Within recent years 
through railroad connections have also greatly aided Newport 
News as an exporting city of wheat from the Atlantic coast. 

Distance from Seaport to Primary Market is another factor 
in determining the direction taken by export grain. Some of 
the principle distances in miles by the best routes are as fol- 
lows: From Duluth to Portland, Maine, 1330, to Boston 1400, 
and to Baltimore via Chicago, 1280; Chicago to Baltimoi-e 802, 
» U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Statistics, Bui. 38 (1905), pp. 10-28. 



194 THE I300K OF WHEAT 

and to New Orleans 914; St. Louis to Mobile 644, and to Balti- 
more 930; and Kansas City to Galveston 873. The railroads 
which cross the Allegheny' mountains are not as level as those 
which follow the shores of the great Lakes, or as those which 
extend down the Mississippi valley, and as a consequence it 
costs them more to carry grain. The Gulf ports have a disad- 
vantage on account of the tropical character of their climate, 
for flour and wheat, especially if northern grown, are more apt 
to deteriorate there than in a cooler climate. 

Wheat Grown on the Pacific Coast passes into the export 
channels through the Pacific ports. This trade is very distinct 
from the rest of the wheat trade of the United States. It 
formed about 33 per cent of the total export trade in the ninth 
decade, but the amount fell to less than 25 per cent by 1900. 
Under abnormal conditions in 1905, however, the Pacific coast 
exports were 92 per cent of the wheat, and 41 per cent of the 
wheat and floui*. It is probable that the development of Orien- 
tal commerce and western transportation facilities Avill increase 
the Avheat exports from the Pacific coast. 

Lake Shipments. — In 1867 the iron steamship was rapidly 
replacing sailing vessels on the Great Lakes. In 1900 the largest 
class of lake vessels, known as ''Avhalebacks," carried 250,000 
bushels of wheat in a single load. This amount rose to 380,000 
bushels in 1906. At 12.5 bushel per acre, one shipload repre- 
sents the wheat harvested from 30,400 acres of land. In point 
of tonnage, Duluth, on Lake Superior, was the second port in 
the United States at the close of the nineteenth century, hav- 
ing been exceeded by New York only. The Sault Sainte Marie 
canal carried 2.5 times as much tonnage in eight months as the 
Suez canal in a whole year. During October, 1902, 14,971,318 
bushels of east-bound Avheat passed through this canal, and 
also 1,298,751 barrels of flour. 

Statistics Pertaining to Rail Shipments. — An empty car 
weighs on an average about one-third of the gross weight of a 
loaded car. Twenty years ago 1,020 tons net weight was the 
best load of grain that could be hauled in one train in the 
United States. The maximum weight (dead and paying load) 
hauled by the New York Central in ordinary grain practice is 
at present from 3,300 to 3,500 tons in a train containing over 
60 cars of 30 tons of paying load each ; 80 cars having a gross 



THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 195 

weight of 4,500 tons, have been hauled over the line in a single 
train; 85 loaded cars in one train is the outside limit, and not 
many more empty cars can be hauled on the return trip. Even 
70 cars in one train is too wearing on the engine to be profitable. 
The prime cost of moving a sixty-car grain train, that is, the 
cost at which a few extra trains could be run over the line 
without loss where ordinary traffic pays for maintenance and 
fixed charges, is estimated to be considerably below one dollar 
per mile, very probably under 65 cents.^ Single wheat cars 
weighing 139,000 pounds and containing over 2,000 bushels of 
wheat have been shipped. About 25 years ago, 450 to 500 
bushels were considered a large car load and a 1,000-bushel car 
was unheard of. 

When i^roperly shipped, all cars are sealed in transit. There 
is, however, considerable carelessness in shipping. For example, 
out of a total of 202,352 cars arriving at the five terminal points 
in Minnesota during 1905, 9,112 arrived in "bad order." Of 
these, 3,981 were not sealed; 647 had the seals broken; 1,019 had 
open end and side doors; 1,330 had pooi'ly fastened doors; 878 
had leaky grain doors; 259 had leaky ends and sides; 970 had 
doors unfastened ; and 28 were Avithout doors. Grain is lost 
from such cars by theft and leakage. 

When shipments of grain are heavy there is often a shortage 
of grain cars. During such times of car shortage it is a com- 
mon railroad practice to utilize the cars so as to secure the 
greatest possible amount of the grain traffic, taking into con- 
sideration that competing roads will also secure as much traffic 
as possible. In such cases buyers located at non-competitive 
points and having their elevators full to overflowing may lose 
several hundred dollars per day because they cannot secure 
grain ears. 

The railroads often pursue a generous and far-sighted policy 
for the benefit of all concerned. Such cases are where trans- 
portation is furnished, often free of charge, for experts investi- 
gating questions connected with agriculture, and for farmers' 
meetings which are held in the interests of agriculture. The 
thousands of harvest laborers which the roads annually trans- 
port at greatly reduced rates, and even without any direct re- 
muneration, is another case in point. The railroads recognize 
^ Interview with competent observers. 



r 



196 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

that tlieir prosperity depends upon the prosperity of the farmer, 
and that they cannot transjiort the crops which he fails to 
harvest. 

Transportation from Seaboard to Foreign Market. — The in- 
creased exportation of American cereals, especially of wheat, 
dates from the middle of the nineteenth century, and was coin- 
cident with an increased demand for grain abroad. Europe's 
extremity in grain has always been America's opportunity. The 
chief features in the development of wheat exportation from the 
United States were a decrease in cereal production in Avestern 
Europe; an increase in the demand for grain, mainly in the 
United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland; 
the laying of the Atlantic cable; the commercial grading of 
cei'eals; and the economies effected by modern elevator and 
transportation methods. Prior to 1850, not more than from 1 
to 9 per cent of the production of agricultural nations, or of the 
consumption of manufacturing nations, was a factor in inter- 
national trade.^ 

The first direct shipment of grain from the Great Lakes to 
Europe was a cargo of wheat in 1856. Out of 125 cargoes thus 
going in the next eight years, only three or four carried grain. 
The first wheat shipped from the Pacific coast around Cape 
Horn was sent to New York. The grain was of such a novel 
character that the New York millers did not know how to man- 
age it, and the ventui'e was not a success. In 1860 California 
made its first shipment of wheat to England. The English mil- 
lers sent back for instructions hoAV to mill this grain, but it 
found a ready market there. By 1901 about half of the wheat 
flour shipped from San Francisco went to China, Japan and the 
East Indies, but the United Kingdom still received the greater 
portion of wheat. At that date, 12 ships per month were 
leaving San Francisco loaded with flour for the Orient, whereas 
only a few years before there were but two or three. 

In 1900 a load of 82,000 bushels of wheat was shipped from 
Portland, Oregon, to Yokohama. This was the first cargo made 
up of wheat alone that ever crossed the Pacific to Japan. In 
the same year at the same port a cargo of wheat was loaded 
for Europe to go the route by way of Japanese, Chinese, Philip- 
pine, and Indian ports through the Suez canal to the Mediter- 
1 Emery, Speculation in U. S., p. 106. 



THE TRANSPORTATION OP WHEAT 197 

ranean, and thence to England. Whether the cargo of wheat 
went all the way to England was not clearly stated, but it re- 
versed the usual route to Great Britain, and full return cargoes 
from Europe and the east were promised. The following year 
at least one steamship took the same route to Europe, carrying 
about 3,000 tons of wheat. In 1901 one steamer took a cargo 
of 51,931 barrels of flour, besides 1,000 tons of miscellaneous 
freight, from Portland, Oregon. This was the largest cargo of 
flour ever floated anywhere previous to that date, with the 
exception of one of 55,000 barrels taken from Newport News. 
A single shipment of about 40,800 barrels of flour was made 
from San Francisco in 1903. 

There is a widely prevalent opinion that the Oriental trade 
of the Asiatic millions is the greatest commercial prize of the 
age, and that it will absorb the entire wheat surplus of the 
Pacific coast. Great American vessels have been built especially 
for this trade, but their owners have not found the traffic as 
lucrative as they had hoped. The mercantile marine system of 
the United States is not the most encouraging for American 
shipping. It is claimed that the Japanese vessels carry flour 
and wheat aci'oss the Pacific at over a dollar a ton cheaper than 
the American vessels. It is also claimed that the Japanese are 
carrying out an ambitious plan for colonizing Manchuria on an 
extensive scale in order to raise sufficient wheat to supply the 
needs of Asia, and thus close its markets to American grain. 

During the last decade of the nineteenth century about 333 
vessels were engaged in the grain trade on the Pacific coast. 
They belonged to 12 different nationalities. Over 65 per cent 
of them were English, and less than 3 per cent were Amei'ican. 
Regular lines of steamers carried nearly all the flour shipped 
from the Pacific coast ports, but sailing vessels carried the great 
bulk of wheat exported. In California ships are often loaded 
directly from the car, but in Oregon and Washington the wheat 
is more generally re-cleaned and then re-sacked, before it is 
loaded. Practically all export wheat from the Pacific coast 
is sacked. From the Atlantic and Gulf ports, wheat is gen- 
erally shipped in loose condition. A very large portion of it is 
carried in English bottoms. 

Transportation Charges. — Early freight rates on wheat were 
prohibitory. For example, the charge for transporting the first 



l'J8 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

wheat sent from the Red rivei' valley to Duluth was 30 cents 
per bushel. A general reduction in railroad, river and ocean 
freight rates is the condition which, more than anything else, 
has made possible the shipping, and consequently the growing, 
of immense quantities of wheat. This was the major factor 
involved in opening a market for the wheat grower, not only 
in the great centers of consumption in our own country, but 
in those of the world. Estimates at the close of the nineteenth 
century still placed the cost of carrying wheat from the north- 
west to the Atlantic seaboard as one-half as great as the origi- 
nal cost of production. By 1897, the cost of concentrating the 
wheat surplus at Chicago was reduced to one-fourth or one- 
third of the cost in 1880. In 1884: the cost of getting wheat 
from the farm to the consumer was 22 per cent of its Chicago 
value. This had fallen to 6 per cent in 1897. The Chicago 
price of wheat was pi'actically the same at both dates. 

From 1867 to the end of the century, the freight rate per 
bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York by rail decreased 
from 331/4 cents to 12 cents. As we have seen, however, the 
competition between these two points was the most severe pos- 
sible, and it must not be assumed that freight rates in general 
decreased to this extent. The rate per bushel for shipping 
wheat from Chicago to New York by lake and canal route was 
8.8 cents in 1871, and 4.8 cents in 1905; by lake and rail it was 
12.1 cents in 1875 and 6.4 in 1905; and by an all-rail route it 
was 20.9 cents in 1875 and 9.9 cents in 1905. From Chicago to 
New York, the rate by lake and rail route fell from 19.2 cents 
in 1870 to 5.6 cents in 1902. At the close of the century the 
average rate between these two points was less than one cent 
greater by rail and lake than by lake and canal, and railroad 
rates had reached the lowest notch, for the roads preferred to 
lose the grain trade rather than to reduce rates further. 

In 1880 railroads carrying wheat to Chicago charged from 
1.08 to 1.75 cents per ton per mile. In 1897 the rates were 
0.78 of a cent to 1 cent, a reduction of from 0.25 to 0.74 of a 
cent per ton per mile in 17 years. This reduction was less 
than that made by the cotton and coal roads during the same 
period of time." The average rate on all freight per ton per 
mile was about the same in 1890 as was that on wheat in 1897. 
1 Industrial Commission, 6:59-60. 



THE TRANSPORTATION OF WHEAT 199 

In 1898 the farmers' organizations secured a compromise from 
J. J. Hill of the Great Northern according to which that road 
reduced freight rates on grain 14 per cent, and competition 
forced the other roads to meet the reduction. The reduction 
did not amount to quite 2 cents per bushel, but, contrary to ex- 
pectations, it made no difference whatever in the price paid for 
wlieat to the farmer. It is believed that the reduction bene- 
fited the consumer and shipper only.' From St. Louis to New 
York, the rate was 32 cents per 100 pounds in 1882 and 20.5 
cents in 1905. In 1890 it cost 17.4 cents per bushel to haul 
wheat by rail from St. Louis to Chicago. This rate had fallen 
to 11.6 cents in 1901. The rate from St. Louis to New Orleans 
by river fell from 8.1 cents per bushel in 1877 to 4.2 cents in 
1902. The cheapest transportation in the world is on the Great 
Lakes, 0.75 of a mill per ton per mile. 

The cost of transporting a bushel of Avheat to Europe from 
the Atlantic ports of the LTnited States was 5.5 cents in 1902, 
from New Orleans 8 cents, and from San Francisco 16 to 20 
cents. The rate per bushel from St. Louis to Liverpool by way 
of New Orleans was 22.7 cents in 1882, and 10 cents in 1903. 
By way of New York it was 23.7 cents in 1882, and 15.6 cents 
in 1905. The rate per 100 pounds from Chicago to Liverpool 
was 33.5 cents in 1896, and 19.2 cents in 1905. It is claimed 
that competition of the Gulf ports has forced the railroads 
cari'ying grain to Atlantic ports to charge a lower rate when 
grain is destined for export than when it is destined for do- 
mestic consumption, the only alternative being to cease ex- 
porting. 

The railroad rate from Chicago to New York is only a pai't 
of the through rate from Chicago to Liverpool, and in support 
of the view that the rail and ocean rates are complementary, it 
has been cited that in 1876 there was a railroad rate war, and 
the ocean rates at once met the railroad rates. Fi'om April 
6 to June 1 the rate from Chicago to New York fell from 
24 cents to 12 cents, while the ocean rate rose from 10 cents to 
21 cents during the same period. The ship owner gained and 
the railroad lost, while the total cost to the shipper Avas ap- 
proximately the same." 

* Industrial Commission, 10:ccciv. 
= liailroad Gazette. 35:722. 



200 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

It was asserted in the eighties that the competition of over- 
constnicted railroads in the United States and ships in England 
had caused the hauling of wheat below cost. In 1901 the sur- 
plus-cereal states still had at least as many railroads as could 
be profitably operated.' The transportation facilities proved 
inadequate for moving the wheat crop of 1906. 

By making freight discriminations, transportation companies 
can exert a powerful influence upon the volume and direction 
of grain traffic. Discriminations are effected in various ways, 
and may be against certain forms of grain, against certain per- 
sons, and against cei'tain places. It is claimed that the export 
flour trade is greatly injured by the fact that railroad and 
ocean carriei's discriminate against flour in favor of wheat, 
thus giving the foreign miller an advantage in competing with 
the American millei*. 

The interstate commerce commission found that discrimina- 
tions during the year 1898 were probably worse than at any 
previous time. "It is claimed by some that direct rebates and 
secret rates are still frequently granted; commissions ai'e paid 
for securing freight; goods are billed at less than the actual 
weight ; traffic within a state not subject to the interstate- 
commerce act is carried at lower rates; allowances and ad- 
vantages are made in handling and stoinng, etc. ' ' " The large 
shippers generally receive the greatest favors. Laws have been 
enacted to remedy the evil, but their effective enforcement is 
not an easy task. On the whole, however, it must be said 
that the transportation service for wheat has improved vastly 
during the last 25 years, Avliile its cost has been enormously 
reduced during the same period of time. Such evils as exist 
will doubtless be collected in at least some measure as a result 
of the present wave of popular agitation against all corporate 
abuses. 

1 Industrial Commission, 6:48. 
- Industrial Commission, 4:5-6. 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 

The storage of wheat has four aspects which correspond to 
the four stages of transportation, namely: Storage at the 
farm ; at the local market ; at the primary market ; and at the 
seaboard. Under the subject of storage is included the vertical 
and horizontal transportation involved in getting wheat to 
and from wagons, ears, ships and warehouses. 

Storage of Wheat at the Farm. — The granai-y upon the farm 
should have an exposed location, and should be so constructed 
as to make the handling of grain as easy as possible. The 
principal things to be guarded against are dampness, insects 
and vermin. Cold does not injure wheat, and it lessens the 
activity of injurious insects. The loss from insects decreases 
with increased bulk and decreased exposure of the surface of 
grain. Bins should be constructed with smooth, oiled, or painted 
walls to prevent lodgment of insects, and without air spaces 
where vermin can hide. If the granary is fully exposed, a 
single thickness of inch boards will keep out all rats and mice. 
Where injurious insects are likely to be abundant, the windows 
should be screened, the doors made close fitting, and all crevices 
and other means of ingress closed. If the granary is properly 
constructed, there is practically no loss of weight through 
storage. On the largest wheat farms, such as exist in the Red 
river valley, the grain is stored in elevators. Alongside of the 
railroad track which runs thi'ough the great field, two elevators 
of about 50,000 bushels capacity each are located on opposite 
corners of the farm. On the Pacific coast, where there is no 
danger of rain, the sacked wheat is left lying in the open field 
until it is shipped. East of the Mississippi river, mixed farm- 
ing is generally practiced, and as a rule there is sufficient 
granary room on the farm to store the wheat held over, which 
is quite a large portion. In the Northwest, where the main 
feature of farming is growing grain for the market, it is es- 
timated that 75 per cent of the grain is put upon the market 
before the close of the year. 

201 




202 



THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 203 

Storage of Wheat at the Local Market. — The unit of accumu- 
hition at the local market is the wagou load. The unit of rail- 
way shipments is the car load. The shortest time that the 
wheat can be stored at the local market, then, is until enough 
of one grade has accumulated to fill a car, Avhich may be only a 
fraction of a day. For various reasons, grain may be stored 
at the local markets for longer periods. When the buyer lacks 
better facilities, the wheat is often transferred directly from 
the wagon to the car by means of manual labor. By far the 
most usual method, however, is by means of the elevator. 

The modern elevator is a very essential factor in our wheat 
industry. Its chief functions are storage; cleaning, drying 
and gathering wheat; and the vertical and horizontal transpor- 
tation incident to these processes and to the processes of load- 
ing and unloading from wagons, cars and ships. Steam or 
electric power operating the machinery of the elevator ac- 
complishes all this work without any aid from manual labor, 
work that Avould require the manual labor of a vast army of 
men to accomplish it. If it were thus performed, the operations 
would be so slow and expensive that they would raise the cost 
of producing wheat to such a height as to prohibit much of the 
production now eai'ried on. With one single exception, the 
entire process of producing Avheat flour, including the raising, 
harvesting, threshing, shipping and milling of the wheat, may 
be accomplished by machinery. It remains for some genius to 
remove this exception by inventing a machine that can handle 
the sack of wheat on the Pacific coast, and one that can handle 
the sheaf of wheat in the Red river valley. It would seem that 
neither task should be beyond the inventor's power. Of the 
machinery used on a large wheat farm, the plow stands at one 
end, and the elevator at the other. Human labor has been 
minimized throughout all of the operations. All agricultural 
implements are guided by levers; threshermen are only assist- 
ants to a machine which delivers the grain into a sack or grain 
tank; those Avho unload the wheat from the wagons simply 
loose a bolt, and the grain is dumped; those who heave wheat 
into bins merely press buttons; and those who load it into cars 
or ships need but pull a lever. The elevator at the local market 
often has its machinery so constructed that it can empty 1,000 
bushels an hour from wagons, and sometimes 10,000 bushels a 



204 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

day are received by a single elevator. These elevators are 
generally constructed of wood, and have a capacity varying 
from 10,000 to 40,000 bushels. 

From the point of view of ownership and management, thei'e 
are three types of elevators found at the local markets: (1) 
Those provided and owned by the farmers themselves; (2) those 
owned by the local grain dealei's; and (3) those controlled by 
the grain buyers located at the primary markets. Hundreds of 
elevators situated along the railroads which extend into the 
grain territory are controlled from the primary markets by 
wliat are called line elevator companies. The Northern Pacific 
Railway with its elevators maj^ be taken as a typical case. On 
this road during 1901, there were 430 line elevators, 286 local 
dealers' elevators, and 22 farmers' elevators. In the same 
year in Brown county, South Dakota, a county which is 36 
miles wide by 48 miles long, and which is considered as typical 
of the Dakotas and Minnesota, there were 45 elevators with a 
capacity of from 12,000 to 15,000 bushels each. There were 
also 12 flat houses with a capacity of from 3,000 to 5,000 
bushels each, and 3 large elevators belonging to flouring mills. 
Twelve line companies were operating in the county, and they 
owned 30 of the warehouses. 20 of them were owned and 
operated by independent parties.^ When local market conditions 
are unsatisfactory, the farmers establish more elevators. Dur- 
ing 1904-5, the farmers' elevators in Minnesota increased ap- 
pi'oximately 90 per cent in 18 months." For the year ending 
September 1, 1901, 1,549 licenses were issued for country ele- 
vators and warehouses in the state of Minnesota. 

The successful working of elevators as now constructed and 
all the principles of their maehinei-y are entirely dependent on 
the flowing quality of wheat. Since the advantages of this 
quality for labor-saving machinery had been completely es- 
tablished prior to the extensive development of the wheat in- 
dustry on the Pacific coast, it is a peculiar and noteworthy fact 
that in the subsequent development of the wheat industry, the 
Pacific coast differed from other pai'ts of the country in this, 
as in nearly all other things, by not taking advantage of the 
flowing quality of wheat. The grain is handled in sacks, and 

^ Industrial Coinmission, lOrcccxviii. 

- Kept. R. R. and Wareliouse Commission of Minn., 1905, p. 59. 



THE STORAGE OP WHEAT 205 

it is even resacked after it has been cleaned by the elevators. 
Undoubtedly one of the main reasons for this is found in the 
climate. During the summer season of the year, there is no 
rain, and the sacked wheat needs no protection from the ele- 
ments. If it is not shipped at once, it is piled up in huge piles 
at the shipping points. This avoids the use and expense of 
elevators, although it is sometimes piled in warehouses. The 
platforms and warehouses are owned by the grain-buying firms 
who collect the wheat for ultimate shipment. 

Storage of Wheat at the Primary Market. — The capacity of 
terminal elevators to handle and store grain is enormous-. Chi- 
cago was perhaps the first city to develop great facilities in 
this line, and it is partly to this that the city owed its eaidy 
pre-eminence as a grain center. Its first elevators were built 
in the fifties. As early as 1867 Flint wrote that ''7,000 to 
8,000 bushels per hour of gi-ain may be taken from a train of 
loaded ears by a large elevating warehouse, and the same grain 
at the other end may be running into vessels, and be on its way 
to Buffalo, Montreal or Liverpool within six houi'S of time. The 
Illinois Central Railroad grain warehouse can discharge 12 cars 
loaded with grain, and at the same time load two vessels with 
it, at the rate of 24,000 bushels per hour. ... It is capable 
of storing 700,000 bushels of grain. It can receive and 
ship 65,000 bushels in a single day, or it can ship alone 225,000 
bushels in a day." All the warehouses of Chicago could store 
an aggregate of 3,395,000 bushels, and it is further said: "They 
can receive and ship 430,000 bushels in 10 hours, or they can 
ship alone 1,340,000 bushels in 10 hours, and follow it up the 
year ai'ound. In busy seasons these figures are often doubled 
by running nights."^ By the end of the nineteenth century, 
however, there were single elevators in Chicago with a storage 
capacity greater than that of the entire city at the above writ- 
ing. Some reached the high figure of four million bushels. 
The public warehouse capacity of Chicago in 1900 was 28,- 
600,000 bushels, and the private warehouse capacity was 28,- 
645,000 bushels. At that date, five ears of wheat could be un- 
loaded in eight minutes. In 1905 one of the Chicago elevators, 
together with its annexes, had a capacity for storing 5,000,000 
bushels. 

1 Eighty Yrs. Prog, of U. S., pp 75-76. 



200 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

From 1871 to 1887, the Chicago elevators were managed by- 
persons whose sole business was the warehousing of grain. Com- 
petition was active, and Chicago was the best market to which 
grain could be sent from the West. By 1892 a change took 
place. The elevators had passed into the control of persons 
who immediately embarked in the grain-buying business. Nearly 
every railroad terminating in Chicago favored some elevator 
system with concessions that gave control of the grain 
business of the road. As early as 1894, there was an association 
of all the elevator people in Chicago, and all of the great ter- 
minal elevators Avere owned by a comparatively few men or 
firms. The owners of public elevators bought a large pro- 
portion of the grain that was received, and they also controlled 
great private elevators. 

Minneapolis had a grain stoi-age capacity of 27,485,000 
bushels in 1898, and the largest elevator had a capacity of 2,300,- 
000 bushels. Some 23 elevators, having two-thirds of the city's 
storage capacity, were operated under the Chamber of Com- 
merce rules, 4 were operated under the state warehouse law, and 
the remaining 6 were private elevators. Minneapolis is perhaps 
the most notable city as a center for powerful houses which 
control elevator lines. At the close of the century it had 
36 elevator companies, which controlled 1,862 country elevators 
with a combined capacity of about 50,000,000 bushels of wheat. 
St. Louis has 8 public elevators Avith a total storage capacity 
of 6,900,000 bushels, and 25 private elevators with a capacity 
of 2,475,000 bushels. The largest elevator has a capacity of 
1,500,000 bushels. It can receive and deliver 30,000 bushels per 
hour. The total capacity of all public elevators for receiving 
and delivering grain per hour is 181,000 bushels. Kansas City, 
Missouri, has 24 elevators having a total storage capacity of 
9,280,000 bushels. The largest elevator has a storage capacity 
of 1,000,000 bushels, and a capacity of receiving and of de- 
livering 15,000 bushels per hour. A total of 215,000 bushels can 
be received and delivered by all elevators. 

Duluth and Buffalo are the two other great inland elevator 
centers. Some of the elevators of Buffalo have a storage capa- 
city of 2,800,000 bushels, are ''built of steel, operated by 
electricity from Niagara Falls, protected from fire by pneumatic 



THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 207 

water systems, and have complete machinery for cleaning, dry- 
ing and scouring the wheat, when it is necessary." The 28 ele- 
vators of Buffalo have a capacity of about 22,000,000 bushels, 
and the estimated cost of their construction is $13,000,000. Long 
spouts containing movable buckets can be lowered from the 
elevators into the hold of a grain laden vessel. Great steam 
shovels draw the grain to the end of these spouts, where it is 
seized by the buckets and can-ied to the elevator. The 28 ele- 
vators have facilities for receiving from lake vessels and rail- 
roads and transporting to cars and canal boats an aggregate of 
5,500,000 bushels daily. Wheat is unloaded from vessels at the 
rate of 100,000 bushels per hour, while spouts on the other side 
of the elevator reload it into cars, 5 to 10 at a time. A 1,000- 
bushel car is filled in 3 minutes, and the largest canal boat in 
less than an hour. About December 31, 1905, 6,151,693 bushels 
of wheat were afloat in the harbor of Buffalo. 

There is often a community of interest in the management 
of railroads and elevators, as is shown by their methods of 
operation and by the fact that the same men have heavy in- 
vestments in both railroads and elevators. Where the rail- 
roads owned their own storehouses they generally found it im- 
practicable to trade in grain themselves. They made operating 
agreements or sales in such a manner that companies or in- 
dividuals would do this work for them. These companies 
became the medium through which practically all the cereals 
tributary to the respective lines of road on which they oper- 
ated must go to market. Where laws prohibited a public ware- 
houseman from trading in grain, other companies were organ- 
ized, working in conjunction with warehousemen, to handle the 
business. 

Financially, the elevator consolidations have bi'ought money 
from the great public money market of the Avorld. On this 
account the rate of interest has fallen, which has been a dis- 
advantage to the local capitalist with small capital. Without 
the present system of elevators a farming community would be 
much worse off. than under existing conditions, but from the 
farmer's point of view there is ample room for improvement 
in the present system. If the competitive system is to give way 
to organization, the farmer must receive his proper share of 
the benefits arising from the co-operation of all the interests 



208 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

involved, for the foundation of the whole system rests on the 
prosperity of the wheat-grower. 

Storage of Wheat at the Seaboard. — The elevators at the sea- 
board are not as large as those at the primary markets. The 
largest storage capacity of an elevator on the Atlantic coast at 
present is 1,800,000 bushels. Such an elevator can unload grain 
cars at the rate of 560,000 bushels per day and simultaneously 
it delivers grain to vessels at the rate of 1,000,000 bushels per 
day. An ocean steamship pier is usually about 250 feet wide 
and about 800 feet long. The railroad tracks are in the middle 
of the pier, and ocean vessels are moored on either side. The 
capacity for handling cars depends upon the size of the ter- 
minal, and varies from 65 to 1,000 cars per day. Grain in bulk 
is easily loaded on a vessel by transferring it through spouts 
running from the elevator to the hold of the ship. There are 
also two different arrangements for loading grain on a vessel 
Avhile it is alongside a pier taking on board other freight. One 
arrangement consists of a series of belt conveyors which carry 
the grain along a gallery above the pier. The grain is trans- 
ferred to the hold througli spouts lowered from the sides of the 
gallery to the hatches of the vessel. The other method of 
loading is by means of a floating elevator, and it is used when 
the grain is loaded from boats. The latter are towed along- 
side the vessel, and the floating elevator transfers the grain 
from them through the hatches of the ship. 

New York and New Orleans are the only seaports where the 
docks and wharves are largely under the ownership and control 
of city government. The stationary grain elevators of New 
York have a total storage capacity of about 17,000,000 bushels, 
and they are able to transfer over 375,000 bushels of grain per 
hour. From 5,000 to 14,000 bushels per hour can be trans- 
ferred by each of the floating elevators, which have a com- 
bined capacity of 178,000 bushels per hour. It has been esti- 
mated that tlie New York elevators, working 10 hours per day, 
could transfer in 30 days the 157,280,351 bushels of wheat ex- 
ported from the United States in the fiscal year of 1892. 

Philadelphia has five stationary elevators and three floating 
elevators. The total storage capacity in 1904 was over 4,000,000 
bushels. One thousand carloads of grain, or 800,000 bushels, 
could be received in a lO-liour day, and at the same time 



THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 209 

1,380,000 bushels of grain could be delivered. The largest ele- 
vator at present has a capacity of 10,000 bushels per hour. 

Baltimore has 6 grain elevators. The total storage capacity 
is 5,350,000 bushels. One of the elevators can store 1,800,000 
bushels, and it has a daily delivering capacity of 1,000,000 
bushels. The four elevators at tidewater in Boston can store 
3,000,000 bushels, and they can handle, in and out, approximate- 
ly 100,000 bushels per hour. Galveston, Texas, has 4 elevatoi's, 
with a combined storage capacity of 4,000,000 bushels. 

There are no grain elevators on the Pacific coast. Large 
grain warehouses supplied with cleaning and grading plants are 
found at the ports, however. The sacks of wheat are often simply 
piled on the banks of the river. When the deck of the vessel 
to be loaded is at a lower elevation than the grain, the sacked 
wheat is placed on an inclined chute over which it descends by 
gravity into the hold of the vessel. When the deck is at a 
higher elevation than the grain, the sacks are first elevated by 
a conveyor, consisting of a chute and an endless belt, and then 
descend. It requii'es 3 or 4 days by these methods to load a 
ship carrying from 3,000 to 3,500 tons of wheat. At Portland, 
Oregon, there are 14 wheat docks (meaning warehouses), and 
350 cars of wheat can easily be put in storage in one day. One 
is inclined to question the economy of the whole system of 
handling wheat in sacks. 

Legislation Pertaining to Public Elevators and warehouses 
was passed first in Illinois (1870). The usual subjects of legis- 
lative enactment affecting the storage of wheat ai'e : The classi- 
fication and definition of public and private warehouses; the 
licensing of public warehouses; the requiring of bonds with ap- 
proved security from warehousemen ; discriminations ; ware- 
house receipts; grain inspection; prompt delivery; statements of 
grain in store; accidental losses of grain in storage; the mixing 
and selecting of grain by the warehousemen; combinations of 
warehousemen ; and the negotiability of warehouse receipts. 

Storage Charges. — Concentration of the wheat trade and 
through shipments have eliminated many of the charges incident 
to the storage and handling of wheat. In Minnesota and the 
Dakotas in 1900, storage was usually free for the fii-st 15 days, 
and after that the rate was 2 cents a bushel for the first 30 
days, and half a cent a bushel for each additional 30 days. 



THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 211 

Wheat was stored the entire year in elevators, and sometimes 
for 2 or 3 years. The expense per bushel of wheat in operating; 
a line elevator was given as 2.25 cents if 50,000 bushels were 
handled annually, and 1.75 cents if 100,000 bushels Avere han- 
dled. Veiy few houses handled 100,000 bushels of wheat in a 
year. Three-fourths cent per bushel was charged for transfer- 
ring grain from a car to an elevator and into another car. It 
has been estimated that the cost was only one-eighth cent. 

In 1885 the country elevator charge was from 3 to 5 cents 
per bushel. In 1900 it was from 0.5 cent to 2 cents. Elevator 
transfer charges were 1.25 cents in Chicago in 1885, and 0.75 
cent at the close of the century. The usual commission for 
selling on consignment at the terminal markets in 1900 was one 
cent a bushel. Inspection and weighing charges amounted to 0.01 
cent per bushel. About 80 per cent of the charges involved in 
concentrating wheat in Chicago were railroad charges and 20 
per cent were commercial charges. Charges made per car 
were usually those of inspection, 25 to 30 cents, and weighing, 
15 to 30 cents. Storage charges at the terminal elevators were 
about 1 cent per bushel for the first 10 days or any part there- 
of, and about one-fourth cent for each additional 10 days or any 
part thereof. Charges for recleaning grain were from 1 to 2 
cents per bushel. 

In New York the charges on grain in store are, for receiving, 
weighing and discharging sound grain, including storage for 
10 days or a part thereof, five-eighths cent per bushel, and 
for every succeeding 10 days or a part thereof, one-fourth 
cent a bushel. There is extra storage of half a cent i^er bushel 
on grain delivered to ocean vessels. Screening and blowing on 
receipt or delivery costs one-eighth cent per bushel. This may 
also include mixing. Inspection charges are 25 cents per 1,000 
bushels. This, and verification of track weights, involves a 
charge of 50 cents per car load. One cent per bushel is the 
cliarge of weighing and discharging track wheat. Grain loaded 
from elevator to car is charged one-half cent per bushel, and 
that transferred while in store one-fourth cent i^er bushel. At 
Buffalo the cost for elevating is 0.5 cent per bushel, but this 
includes free storage for 10 days. If the grain is left in storage 
longer than 10 days, the charge is 0.25 cents for each day. 



212 THE BOOK OF WHKAT 

Commercial grain charges on the Pacific coast have been an 
argument in favor of elevator methods, especially when they 
Avere compared with the charges at terminal points in the 
Mississippi valley, or with those in New York city. At the 
very outset, the sacks add a cost of 4 cents per bushel of wheat, 
an expense Avhich, according to the above statistics of charges, 
is probably equal on an average to the entire commercial charge 
involved in getting a bushel of wheat from the Red river valley 
through country, terminal and Atlantic seaboard elevators and 
transferring it on board ship at the Atlantic port. While 
there was no storage charged at the local warehouse on the 
Pacific coast for the first 6 months, the handling charge paid 
the local warehouseman during this time was 1.5 cents per 
bushel. Each month after this time involved a charge of 0.3 
cent per bushel. Since there was little capital invested in local 
wareJiouses, the charge for handling the wheat must have been 
about 1.5 cents per bushel, even if it was sold immediately. At 
Portland, 60 days' storage, including the discharging of cars and 
truckage across the dock to ship, involved a charge of 1.2 cents 
per bushel. This charge became 1.8 cents when grain was also 
loaded on the vessel, Avhich made the charge for merely trans- 
ferring to A'essel 0.6 cent. After 60 days, storage charges were 
one-eighth cent per bushel for 10 days. Storage charges at 
San Francisco Avere 1.5 cents a busliel per yeai". The charge 
for loading wheat on vessels Avas 0.75 cent per bushel, and that 
for weighing was nearly 0.25 cent per bushel. 

The greatest portion of the expense on the Pacific coast 
would seem to be for handling the Avheat, Avhile on the At- 
lantic coast it is for storage. Receiving grain, storing it 60 
days, and discharging it iuA^olves a cost of 1.8 cents per bushel 
on the Pacific coast and 1.875 cents on the Atlantic coast. 
When delivered to vessels, there is an additional storage charge 
of 0.5 cent per bushel, making 2.375 cents on the Atlantic coast. 
Storage for 60 days costs two-thirds cent on the Pacific coast, 
and handling the grain costs 1.13 cents. Storage for 60 days 
at NeAv York costs 1.25 cents, or, if it is to be loaded on vessels, 
1.75 cents, which leaves a cost of 0.125 cent for handling. It 
costs, therefore, about 1 cent a busliel more at the seaboard 
port to handle AA'heat in sacks than to handle it by elevator 
methods. At the country elevator, however, there is a gain 



THE STORAGE OF WHEAT 213 

of perhaps half a cent when the grain is sacked, but the Pacific 
coast warehouse is often merely a platform, which in a different 
climate would aiford no pi'otection to the grain. If elevators 
had to be built, it would materially raise the cost at the country 
elevator, making' it higher than 2 cents per bushel. As it is, on 
the whole, the cost is about 4 cents per bushel greater when 
wheal, is handled in sacks than when it is handled by elevators. 
In some states warehouse rates are regulated by law. Dis- 
criminations are often practiced by elevator jieople, especially 
in eliminating independent competitors. In the interior of the 
countiy, the total cost of distributing wheat varies from 10 to 
30 per cent of the price paid by the consumer. The average 
cost has been given as 9 cents per bushel. The cost of getting 
wheat to the seaboard has been given as 10 1-3 cents on the 
Pacific coast, and 14 or 15 cents on the Gulf and Atlantic 
coasts. The total cost from the United States to England was 
about 20 cents by way of Atlantic ports, 22 to 23 cents by 
way of Gulf jDorts, and 30 cents by Avay of Pacific ports. 



CHAPTER XIIL 
THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 

The Rise and Progress of the Grain Trade of the United 
States is one of the greatest marvels of an age noted for its 
commercialism. Its entire history Avould form almost a com- 
plete record of the development of the American continent, for 
it was the major factor in the opening np of three-fourths of 
our settled domain. The pioneer husbandman formed the 
vanguard in the march of civilization. The first succeeding 
ranks were formed by the merchant. Then came in quick se- 
quence the panoramic array of our ocean, lake and river fleets, 
of our canals, of our wonderful storage and transportation sys- 
tems, and of our commercial institutions. 

The cereal crop has been the distinctive feature of rural in- 
dustry in the United States. Here, as in eveiy agricultural 
community, the three concentric circles of distribution which 
arose were centered in the local market, in the city market, 
and in the foreign market. In the modern wheat industry, 
wheat farming is mainly for a commercial surplus. A minor 
portion of the wheat gi'own is consumed or retained on the 
farm, while the great bulk of wheat is poured into the streams 
of local, interstate and international commerce. The major 
factor in that part of the cereal crop which figures in the in- 
ternal trade and foreign commerce of our nation is composed 
of wheat. Much more corn than wheat is produced in the 
United States, but only a minor portion of this corn becomes a 
factor in its raw form in the domestic trade of the country, 
while a comparatively insignificant portion is exported. Less 
than 3 per cent of the corn grown in the United States in 1906 
was exported, and only 25 per cent of that gi-own in 1905 
found its way into the channels of domestic trade. For the 
last decade of the nineteenth century, the exports of wheat 
from the United States were over one-third of the amount 
grown, while those of corn were only one-fifteenth. For the 
year 1902, ten-seventeenths of the Avheat grown, but only two- 
ninths of the corn, was shipped outside of the county where 
it was raised. 

214 



THE MARKETING OP WHEAT 215 

Thus the per cent of wheat exported from the United States 
is five times as large as the per cent of corn, while the per 
cent of wheat shipped outside of the county where grown is 
nearly three times as large as that of coi'n. Wheat is the key- 
stone in the arch of commodities Avhich is buttressed on con- 
sumption and production, and which supports the great com- 
meit;ial superstructure that, with its many ramifications, unites 
into a threefold nexus of interests — rural producer and urban 
consumer, manufacturer and agriculturist, and the producers 
engaged in diversified extractive industries. The grain move- 
ment has a function in the national economy second in im- 
portance to that of no other factor in our agricultural life. 
Directly and indirectly, it is the chief feature in our com- 
mercial relations. 

The Three Methods of Marketing Wheat utilized by the 
American farmer depend upon the amount of wheat that is 
grown. The largest farmers make a wholesale disposal of the 
bulk of their wheat, watching a good opportunity to sell, or 
employing agents to watch at the chambers of commerce or 
boards of trade of such primary markets as Duluth, Minne- 
apolis and Chicago. A large class of less extensive growers 
obtain a price remarkably close to city quotations by forming 
close business relations with commission men at the large 
terminal points. By shipping their grain directly, they avoid 
the middleman charge of the local dealer. The great mass of 
smaller farmers sell to the local elevators. The profits of the 
local buyers, however, have qUfite frequently been scaled to the 
lowest notch by competition. 

The Buyer of Wheat is alwgA^s located within hauling dis- 
tance of the producer's home, ahere are two classes of buyers, 
the local grain dealers and the dealers who represent the 
tenninal grain buyers. The general policy of the railroads has 
been to rely upon these two classes of buyers to provide the 
countiy elevator facilities needed for receiving and shipping 
grain, and to enable them to do this promptly by furnishing 
them with adequate transportation facilities. The terminal 
grain buyers, controlling lines of hundreds of elevators, have 
been the most important factor in the producer's grain market. 
The local buyer is usually a dealer engaged exclusively in the 
grain business, but frequently, especially in Minnesota and the 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 217 

Dakotas, farmers' associations provide themselves with storage 
and elevating facilities, lo their own shipping, and sell through 
commission nerchants. 

The Local Grain Dealers' Associations are one of the main 
features in the local elevator management. The two great 
puiposes that they have served were the improvement of the 
distributive system and the securing of justice for the country 
shipper at the primary markets. While the absence of these as- 
sociations would have been a public misfortune to producer and 
consumer alike, there is much evidence that they have exceeded 
the limits of economic usefulness in some directions. It is for 
the courts to determine whether they have exceeded the legal 
limits of rightful association. 

The Independent Grain Dealer has frequently served in a 
most useful capacity. He has generally had the sympathy and 
support of the grain producer. As a rule, his capital is small, 
his facilities for handling grain are not elaborate, and he is 
subjected to the fiercest of cut-throat competition. In spite of 
all of his disadvantages, however, he sometimes succeeds in 
maintaining himself for years, to the dismay of his competi- 
tors and to the profit of the wheat growing community in 
which he is located. Situated at some little railway station, 
and perhaps not even possessing an elevator, he keeps the price 
at the highest notch. This draws the grain from miles of the 
surrounding country, and it is even hauled past the elevators of 
the larger towns to the little railway station. The competitors 
of the independent dealer buy most of the grain, but the latter 
secures enough for a profitable business. If he happens to be 
hard pressed by competition, many of the farmers will sell him 
tlieir grain, even though his competitors are offering a cent or 
two more per bushel. The farmer can well afford to deal with 
such consideration, for he may secure several cents more per 
bushel on account of the competition which results from the 
independent dealer's operations. The combination, however, is 
often, perhaps usually, of such strength that it can stifle all 
competition. The larger interests endeavor to crush out the 
smaller ones, and the usual methods are employed. The rules 
of the association do not permit the farmer to consign his grain 
to a grain dealing fimi in the primary market. Complaints have 



218 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

been lodged against the associations of the various states be- 
cause they attempted to compel the farmer to sell to their 
members. The association rules permit dealing in grain only 
by those who do a "regular and steady business of buying and 
selling grain." A farmer who does not use the local warehouses 
or elevators, but shovels his wheat from wagon to car, is guilty 
of being ''irregular," and he is known by the association as a 
"scalper." Persons who take advantage of a good market by 
buying and shipping grain independently of the local elevator 
people are also "irregular." In both of these cases, the firms 
to whom the grain is shipped are irregular. In the main, 
irregularity seems to consist in not using the local shipping 
facilities, or in having dealings with people who do not use 
them. Cars irregularly loaded are systematically traced to 
their destination, and the names of the offending shippers and 
receivers are posted. Such persons are then made the subject 
of a systematic boycott by the entire membership of the ele- 
vator association. Even independent dealers who are fully es- 
tablished in the grain ti'ade may become "irregular." An in- 
dependent dealer at Malcolm, Nebraska, shipped two ear loads of 
corn to an Illinois farmer for feeding. For this, he was posted 
as a scalper, although he had $15,000 invested in the grain 
business, and had been a dealer for seven years. A Malcolm 
member of the association had traced the two ears to Illinois, 
and offered corn to the fanner cheaper than it could be bought 
in Nebi'aska.^ At Lakota, South Dakota, an independent ele- 
-vator was built which incun'ed the displeasure of the line ele- 
vators. The merchants of Lakota decided to support the new 
elevator in order to help the farmers, but when the old line ele- 
vators opened general stores in Lakota and sold at cost all the 
goods that the merchants handled, the farmers failed to sup- 
port the merchants. Consequently, the independent elevator 
was compelled to give up business, 

Eailway Discriminations. — There are three ways in which the 
railroads can aid the elevator combination: By promptly sup- 
plying ears in the busy season; by refusing to grant sites for 
independent elevators along their lines; and by rebates. All of 
these metliods have unquestionably been employed. The recent 
investigation by the Intei-state Commerce Commission is said 
^ Industrial Commission, (5:62. 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 219 

to show that combinations between elevators and railroads have 
practically eliminated competition. Many of the railroad offi- 
cials are stockholders in elevator companies. 

The History of the Primary Market has been the history of the 
terminal elevator systems. In the control and operation of these 
systems lies the key to a proper comprehension of the functions 
of the primary market in grain distribution. The tei-minal ele- 
vators, oi^erated on such a stupendous scale, receive, store and 
transfer all grain that flows from the local markets to the 
primary market. They contain by far the larger portion of the 
country's visible grain supply. The importance of a primary 
grain market like Chicago, the historic storm center of the 
competitive conflict for control over the Mississippi valley grain 
movement, is augmented by the fact that its supremacy as a 
distributing center for manufactures depends largely upon its 
capacity to command the agricultural products which are ex- 
changed for the manufactured j^roducts. Herein lies the ulti- 
mate explanation of the consolidation of the distributive 
agencies engaged in the grain trade. 

The Pacific coast warehouses, located on the railroads and 
rivers, are generally operated in the interest of milling, export- 
ing or speculative dealers. In recent years, many farmers have 
shipped directly to the coast cities and placed their gi'ain in 
storage there. Each farmer makes certain of securing the re- 
turn of his own wheat by marking his sacks and piling them to- 
gether, for the wheat, coming from the dry interior, usually 
gains enough in weight to pay for storage. The large wheat 
dealers of Portland and San Francisco have local buyers to rep- 
resent them at the railroad stations and steamboat landings. 

The Inspection of Wheat. — The rigid system of gi-ain in- 
spection and grading maintained by various states and trade 
organizations not only simplifies and facilitates the movement 
of wheat to a surprising extent, but it also tends to minimize 
fraud in the grain trade. In wheat inspection the greatest care 
and accuracy are always maintained. The procedure at Min- 
neapolis is approximately as follows: One man, passing along 
the cars, records their numbers and initials, and takes note 
whether their seals have been tampered with; another man 
breaks the seals and opens the doors ; the third man is the wheat 
expert who is the official deputy inspector of the state. Quick 



220 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

and keen from long experience, the inspector looks for foreign 
matter mixed with the wheat, examines the quality of the grain, 
and smells for smut. Sometimes the cars are loaded fraudu- 
lently by placing inferior wheat in portions of the car where the 
cuiining shipper imagines it will escape detection. Such cars 
are said to be ''plugged." The inspector thrusts a brass 
plunger deep into the wheat in different portions of the car and 
brings up samples for the purpose of discovering improper 
loading. The elevator and commission houses have a sampling 
bureau, representatives from which accompany the official in- 
spector. The samples which they secure are marked with the 
number and initials of the car from which they were taken. At 
the opening of the chamber of commerce, these samples are set 
out in pans, and form the basis of the day 's trading. The state 
secures complete records and samples of all cars inspected. 
These are kept until the grain has passed out of the market, so 
that any dispute as to the quality of the grain could be easily 
settled. After the inspector has finished his work, the cars are 
resealed with the state seal. The wheat is rarely delayed more 
than a day in the cars in which it arrives. 

Should an inspector make a slight error in judgment, it might 
make a difference of a grade in wheat, and a gain or loss of $25 
per car. In comparison with this, the cost of inspection is 
nominal. If there is dissatisfaction with the inspector's de- 
cision, appeal may be made to a state board which is especially 
appointed to hear such complaints. Unless the grade of the 
wheat is changed, the expense of the second inspection must 
be borne by the objector. In 1889, 30 to 40 cars were inspected 
in Minneapolis in an hour. A decade earlier 60 to 90 cars 
could be inspected in an hour, because the wheat was cleaner. 
The exporting of wheat from the interior of the United States 
involves from three to six inspections of any given lot of grain. 

At the six terminal points of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Duluth, 
St. Paul, St. Cloud, New Prague and Sleepy Eye, 125,564 cars 
of wheat were inspected "on arrival" during 1905, and for 
the same year there were inspected "out of store" 59,963 
cars, and 19,692,490 bushels shipped in vessels. Out of 11,009 
appeals coming before the Board of Grain Appeals on all grain, 
in 7,859 the decisions of the chief deputies were confirmed. 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 221 

The Weighing of Wheat. — A few years ago the average 
weight of the loads weighed at Minneapolis was 20 tons. Now 
monstrous weighing machines weigh 50 tons at a time. Some 
states have a state weighing department. That of Minnesota, 
located at Minneapolis, has given service which steadily grows 
in public confidence and favor. In 1902, it employed 68 persons, 
and supervised weighing at 42 elevators and 17 flour mills, be- 
sides 4 feed mills, 5 oil mills, and 3 railroad yards. It weighed 
233,127 car loads and 5,564 wagon loads, which included 152,- 
810,383 bushels of wheat. The revenue was nearly $60,000, and 
the disbursements were about $4,000 more. It is the intention 
of the law that the service shall be self-sustaining. The de- 
partment has also removed from the field a notorious class of 
men known as grain thieves. Only 81 errors were made in 
Aveighing 259,996 cars of grain, and 6,000,000 bushels of grain 
have been weighed with an average shortage of only 40 pounds 
per car. 

The Commercial Grading of Wheat. — The value of wheat 
varies with its quality, and with the purpose for which it is to 
be used. In the school of competition, manufacturers of cereal 
products and large consumers of raw cereals learned that it is 
essential to know the relative values of different lots of grain. 
The experience of these men, aided by science, determined the 
kinds of wheat that are best adapted for various purposes, and 
the methods of distinguishing them. This was the origin of 
the commercial grades of wheat. The grading of wheat con- 
sists in examining the various lots or cargoes to determine their 
quality and uniformity, and in assigning them to the proper 
grades. The principal characteristics which aid in fixing the 
grade are weight per bushel; plumpness; soundness; color; and 
freedom from smut, foreign seeds and other matter, and from 
mixture with a different type of wheat. These characteristics 
vary so in degree and combination that they are not reasonably 
distinct, and consequently they are difficult of measurement and 
definition. Gradations are continuous, and if lines are drawn 
to mark the limits of the grades, it is difficult to determine the 
grades in cases close to the lines. Consequently, grade require- 
ments have been couched in obscure and indefinite terms and 
phrases, and the responsibility for their interpretation has been 
left largely with the grain inspectors. 



222 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Formerly wheat was sold by sample, and grading was in effect 
merely the determination of the value of the grain. In storage, 
particular lots of grain, even if of the same grade, had to be 
kept separate, and when called for, they had to be delivered to 
the proper owner. The receipts or warrants issued for the 
grain by the storehouse became the equivalent of the grain in 
the market. In the early fifties, the movement of vast crops 
from scattered sources became very unwieldy and difficult under 
the old methods of selling by sample. It was necessary to store 
in bulk enormous quantities of grain. The difficulties of deliver- 
ing on demand particular lots of wheat to individual owners be- 
came very great. As a result, the grain trade made the most 
important advance of its history. Storage in bulk of all grain 
of the same grade was made without preserving the identity of 
particular lots, and general receipts were issued for the specified 
amount of grain of a certain grade. These receipts could be de- 
livered in fulfillment of contracts, and when grain was with- 
drawn from storage, a specified amount instead of a specified 
lot of a particular grade was delivered by the warehouseman. 
Most of the wheat in Chicago was thus graded by 1860, but 
general receipts were not adopted in New York until 1874. In 
some markets, the inspection and grading of grain have reached 
such a degree of honesty and efficiency that samples are dis- 
pensed with entirely. 

Contract Grades. — Trade organizations whose members deal 
in grain exist in nearly all of the larger cities of the United 
States. These organizations have an important function in the 
grain trade, for they afford means for easy communication be- 
tween producer and consumer, and they aid in avoiding acute 
conditions of supply and demand. They have adopted rules of 
trade which aim at a maximum of business with a minimum of 
expense and friction. The established grades of grain form 
a part of these regulations. The trade organization of each 
market establishes a ''contract grade" for its own market. The 
contract grades ai'e understood in all contracts not specifying 
otherwise. There may be several contract grades on the same 
market, and there may be a difference of several cents in the 
actual milling value of a contract grade designated by the same 
name in different markets. This variation arises from a differ- 
ence in the rules which regulate the resjieetive inspecting bureaus, 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 223 

and is the cause of some confusion. Where there is no state 
inspection, the trade organizations manage their own inspection 
departments. 

The Need of Uniform Grades. — Great as has been the value 
of inspection and grading to the grain trade, the service is not 
without its shortcomings. The greatest difficulty is lack of uni- 
formity in grades. The different states and trade organizations 
establish their grades quite independently of each other, and 
this does not tend to give the uniform grades which the inter- 
market, interstate and international grain trade demands. The 
inspector begins with indefinite standards. He is buffeted about 
by opposing interests which are vitally concerned in his de- 
cisions. He must work rapidly. Sometimes the weather and 
light place him at a great disadvantage. Frequently he lacks 
apparatus for deciding doubtful cases. If reinspection is 
called for, he rarely knows when a change of grade is made, and 
why. In many eases, not only do the inspectors grade with 
their unaided judgment, but they also have little opportunity 
for correcting this judgment. The demands of the domestic 
and foreign wheat trade for more uniform grades are imperative. 

Interest in the exact and uniform grading of wheat and other 
grains has come mainly from two sources, the grain dealers and 
the United States department of agriculture. The general con- 
census of opinion has been that existing difficulties can best be 
removed without governmental control, which, however, has 
some advocates. The grain-inspection work of the department 
of agriculture has had for its principal objects the study of 
methods used in the determination of different varieties of 
wheat, and the study of commercial grades of cereals. The 
work of the grain dealers has found expression in the national 
organization of the chief inspectors. This organization es- 
tablished grades of wheat which it recommended to the grain 
trade for uniform use. 

Commercial Classes and Grades of Wheat officially recognized 
and adopted at Chicago and New York are given below. Whea^ 
may be of such poor quality or condition as to be graded 
''rejected," or "no gi'ade." Wheat that is wet, in a heating 
condition, burned, or badly smutted generally falls into the 
lowest grades. 



224 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

CHICAGO. 

White winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 
Long red winter wheat, Nos. 1 and 2. 
Red winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 
Hard winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 
Colorado wheat, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. 
Northern spring wheat, Nos. 1 and 2. 
Spring wheat, Nos. 1, 2. 3 and 4. 
White spring wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

NEW YORK. 

Winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

Red winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 an d 4. 

Mixed winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

Hard winter wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4. 

Western wheat, Nos. 1 and 2. 

Spring wheat, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and No. 1 Northern. 

Macaroni wlieat, Nos. 1, 2 and 3. 

The rules for grading red winter wheat in New York are as 
follows : 

No. 1. Red winter wheat shall be sound, plump, dry, w^ll 
cleaned, and weigh not less than 60 lbs. Winchester standard. 

No. 2. Red winter wheat shall be sound, dry and reasonably 
clean, contain not more than 10 per cent of white winter wheat, 
and weigh not less than 58 lbs. Winchester standard. 

No. 3. Red winter wheat shall be sound, dry and reasonably 
clean, contain not more than 10 per cent of white winter wheat, 
and weigh not less than 56 14 lbs. Winchester standard. 

No. 4 Red winter wheat shall include all red winter wheat 
not fit for a higher grade in consequence of being of poor quality, 
damp, musty, dirty and weigh not less than 52 lbs. Winchester 
standard. 

The first wheat that was raised in the Red river valley grew 
on a rich virgin soil that was free from weeds, and consequently 
the grain was of high quality and quite free from foreign mat- 
ter. As the soil became impoverished and weeds became more 
prevalent, wheat deteriorated in quality and extraneous matter 
increased. In the eighties, ''No. 1 hard" Avas the contract 
grade in the terminal markets, and for several years over one- 
half of the wheat received at Duluth Avas of this grade. Later 
the contract grade was reduced to No. 1 northern. Not 15 per 
cent of the crop of 1898 which came to Minneapolis was good 
enough for even this grade. Of 125.564 cars of wheat received 
at the six teraiinal points of Minnesota during 1905, 109,160 
contained northern spring wheat, 11,118 winter wheat, 3,391 
western white wheat, and 1,557 Avestern red wheat. Of 143,375 
cars received during 1902, 139,857 contained noi'thern spring, 
2,909 winter, 516 red winter, 53 northern white, 21 white winter, 
and 19 Avestern Avhite and red. The net average dockage was 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 225 

21.5 ounces per bushel iu 1904, and 18.6 ounces in 1905. Eight- 
een grades of wheat were recognized in Minnesota in 1902. 
Wheat contracts well illustrate Gresham's law and the action 
of a double standard, inasmuch as that grade which is most 
abundant and cheapest in any one year becomes the contract 
grade for that year, and other grades are delivered only at a 
premium.^ The grade is always either understood or specified 
in contracts on the produce exchanges, and a contract cannot be 
settled except by a delivery of that grade, or of some higher 
grade. It is only in comparatively recent times that a contract 
can be settled by a higher grade, for this is now allowed in 
oi'der to avoid ''corners." 

The Mixing of Wheat. — After grades became fixed, houses for 
cleaning grains and bi'inging them up to the standard were es- 
tablished. These branched out to include a system of mixing 
higher and lower grades of wheat to "bring the whole up so it 
would pass muster, according to the rules of the respective in- 
spection departments for which the mixture might have been 
made." Grades were thus manufactured. In New York, for 
example, there were two classifications of grades, one for de- 
livery on the New York produce exchange, and the other for 
export, both under the same name. The mixing houses were 
private enterprises, and under no inspection. The practice in- 
creased the profit of the mixing house, but it lowered the grades 
of wheat. The mixer often makes a greater profit per bushel 
than the producer, and the business is so important that practi- 
cally all terminal elevators in Chicago have their mixing houses. 
In running wheat of a high quality through the cleaning house, 
some of a lower gi-ade is mixed with it in such proportion that 
the mixture barely passes the contract grade. Two cars of No. 
2 wheat mixed Avith three cars of No. 3 may make five cars of 
No. 2 wheat. The difference in price between the grades may 
range as high as 15 cents per bushel. The mixing of wheat tends 
to fix its price to the disadvantage of the producer. In order 
to obtain a special quality of wheat, a premium must be paid for 
it. Export grain sold by sample commands a premium of from 
1 to 4 cents per bushel over the speculative grades held in store 
in American grain centers. The benefit of this premium goes 
to the mixer and seller of the wheat, and not to the farmer. 
* Emery, Speculation, p. 137. 



226 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Wheat taken out of storage is not always of the same quality 
as that stored. The buyer who purchases in a territory where 
a low grade of wheat predominates is at a great disadvantage in 
competing with a buyer who purchases in a territory where 
the grade varies. Most of the mixing of wheat is done at the 
primary markets.^ 

The Advantages of Mixing Wheat are great, and perhaps 
more than counterbalance the evils resulting from the practice. 
Without the mixing of wheat, the farmer would be at a great 
disadvantage because the demand for off grades would cease. 
Legislative efforts have been made to stop the mixing of grain, 
but supervision by duly authorized inspectors is a more prob- 
able solution of the difficulty. Some elevators make an ex- 
clusive business of handling wheat that is shrunken, damp or 
injured, and work it up a grade by drying, cleaning and mix- 
ing. Damp wheat is turned over to them by the regular com- 
panies, who do not care to put it in their elevators. 

Insurance. — There was insurance on goods in trust at least 
as early as 1704. On granary risks of stored grain the rate 
under the London mercantile tariff in 1877 was 0.76 per cent. 
After the fire at the King and Queen Wharf of that year, the 
rate was raised to 1.08 per cent. In recent years in the United 
States, a few companies are writing insui'ance on wheat in the 
stack or granary, upon which they charge a rate of 1 per 
cent per annum. Wheat in elevators at the local market is 
insured by most of the large fire insurance companies at a 
rate depending upon the construction and hazard of the ele- 
vator, and varying from 1.5 per cent to 3 per cent per annum. 
Grain in transit is insured under raih-oad schedule policies 
written by a syndicate of companies in New York. The rate 
upon this class of I'isks is from .60 per cent to 1.5 per cent, 
for it varies from year to year. The rate of insurance for 
wheat stored in elevators at the primary or seaboard markets 
varies from .50 per cent in modern elevators of steel and con- 
crete construction to 3.15 per cent in elevators of other con- 
struction, according to type of construction and surroundings. 
In Canada, the law compels warehousemen to insure stored 
grain, and the average rate on grain in elevators is nearly 2 
per cent. 

^ Industrial Commission, 10:cccxxi: cccxxix. 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 227 

Marine Insurance of grain cargoes transported on lakes, 
rivers or oceans is obtainable. Losses on such transportation 
in American ships were so great during the wintrt's of 1878 and 
1879 that ''many underwritei's on either side of the Atlantic 
ceased to write them at any premium." Thirty-five years ago 
the insurance rate on grain-carrying sailing vessels to Liverpool 
was 1.25 per cent from New York and 2.25 per cent from 
Monti'eal, and on steam vessels 1 per cent from New York and 
1.25 per cent from Montreal. 

Financiering the Movement of Wheat. — The large money cen- 
ters are not as great a factor in the moving of the wheat crop 
as they were at an earlier date, for to a large extent the rural 
sections now do their own banking. The banking power has 
grown much faster than the increasing money requirements 
for moving crops. In 1890 the banking power of the chief grain 
states was to the money power required to move the grain crop 
as 4 to 6, and a decade later the ratio was as 7 to 6. The grain 
growing region now has sufficient capital to move the cereals 
from first hands and to start them well on their way through 
the commercial channels. A dealer fui'nishing money for about 
175 coiTutry elevators in Minnesota and the Dakotas sends out 
$500 to $1,000 to each elevator, making from $100,000 to $150,000 
sent out the first day. Cars are not obtained on this day, and 
perhaps 50,000 to 100,000 bushels are purchased. A sort of 
paymaster is located in the elevator towns, and these keep 
the principal informed as to the amount of wheat purchased 
daily, and as to the amount of cash that Avill be required the 
next day. Much of this cash must usually be borrowed, but 
warehouse receipts for grain already in elevators are good se- 
curity on which an amount of money close to the cash price of 
the wheat can be borrowed from the country banker. There 
must be a car load of the same grade of grain before shipment 
can be made. When the grain does begin to move it takes sev- 
eral days for it to get to market, and five or six days' receipts 
are often on hand before cash is realized. As soon as a car is 
loaded, the elevator man draws a sight draft on the commission 
house at the primary market for the amount that he borrowed 
from the country banker, attaches the bill of lading, and de- 
posits the draft in the country bank as a cash item. Cables are 
frequently sent at night to every market of the world in order 



228 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

to sell Avheat. What cannot be sold must be held, and future 
sales upon the speculative markets can be made as an insurance 
against loss from price fluctuations. 

The countiy banker sends the draft to his correspondent at 
the market, where collection is made. As soon as the wheat 
reaches the terminal warehouse, it is again available for a loan 
close to its market value. If the terminal factor is an exporter, 
he also attaches bills of lading to a draft drawn against the 
shipment, and his banker accepts this di'aft as cash at current 
exchange rates, which include interest on the money until the 
draft is paid. Outside of the money used by the railroads, it 
requires about $500,000,000 to move the grain crops.^ If the 
farmers do not wish to sell their wheat at once, they can place 
it in the elevator and receive a receipt on which they can bor- 
row 90 per cent of its value from the banks. 

The Marketing of Wheat in Foreign Countries. — The charac- 
teristic feature of the wheat Biovement in the United States 
consists in concentrating the surplus for export. Only a few 
of the larger exporting countries resemble the United States in 
this respect. In the non-exporting and in the importing coun- 
tries, the main problem is the distribution of the wheat among 
the population. In this case the entire machinery of marketing 
and transportation must be modified and adapted to the con- 
ditions peculiar to each country. In exporting countries, the 
wheat is bought by buyers who are either established at the 
local centers, or who travel through the country purchasing 
grain from farm to farm. It is only the larger grain centers 
of Europe which employ the economical American system of 
elevators in handling grain. 

Russia. — In Russia, as is usual in foreign wheat producing 
countries, the machinery for buying, handling and transporting 
wheat is very imperfect. Where transportation facilities are 
adequate their use is expensive. On long distances railroad 
rates have been higher than in the United States. They have 
been estimated at 3 per cent of the cost of production. Russia 
is well supplied with rivers, and a decade ago the larger pro- 
portion of export grain was still moved by river and canal. The 
railways have now become a more important means of transpor- 
tation than the rivers and other water routes, and they will 
* Industrial Commission. 6:135-137; 11:10-11. 






THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 229 

doubtless be the great factor in the future development of the 
country. The construction of the trans-Siberian railroad has 
been considered as the initial step in the opening of extensive 
grain fields. This railway is about 6,600 miles long in its direct 
line. Earth was broken for its construction in 1891. The road 
has been completed, but * ' what this country can do in the way 
of wheat production is yet to be demonstrated." On account 
of high freights, Avheat cannot be shipped to the frontier by 
rail, and the surplus of Western Siberia does not get beyond 
the rural districts. Much of the grain from the western wheat 
lauds of Siberia is carried by boat down the Irtish and up the 
Tura to Tinmen, from which place it is forwarded by rail to 
Russia. Some is also shipped east and west on the trans- 
Siberian railroad. 

In Russia, grain was formerly handled in sacks. There were 
no elevators at the country stations and the grain was much 
damaged from exposure to the elements. The same state of 
affair's existed at the seaports, where the grain was further 
damaged. Here an attempt was made to classify the grain 
according to its quality, but there was no machinery for clean- 
ing it. Screenings were bought from the farmers and again 
mixed with the wheat. Various other extraneous matters were 
also introduced, such as manure, sand, and a species of grass, 
Kukal. The latter was in such demand at times as to bring a 
higher price at Odessa than rye. 

In 1888 the first warehouse with elevators was erected in 
Russia, and it did not pay expenses. Subsequently the Russian 
government assisted in erecting grain elevators on the Ameri- 
can plan. These were mainly along the lines of the southern 
raihvay, and at Odessa and other southern ports. In 1895 there 
were 55 warehouses with elevators, having a capacity of about 
8,905,000 bushels, and 221 warehouses without elevators, having 
a capacity of about 9,082,000 bushels. In 1898 over 50 per cent 
of the Russian Avheat contained 2 per cent of foreign matter, 
and some of it contained as high as 12 per cent. No attempt 
at grading and inspecting the wheat has thus far been success- 
ful. It is mostly sold on sample in Great Britain, and there 
are frequent complaints of fraud. Some fruitless efforts have 
been made to get Russian wheat sold on a 5 per cent extraneous 



230 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

matter basis, a plan recently adopted in Roumania. Experi- 
ence in other countries has shown that if such efforts were suc- 
cessful, the most important result would be the transportation 
of that much more rubbish from Russia to England. 

India. — An immense stimulus was given to wheat cultivation 
in India by the development of transportation facilities. The 
first of these was the completion of tlie Suez canal in 1869. 
This, however, reached its greatest importance only after some 
railroads were built into the wheat districts. In the eighties 
the movement of wheat was still greatly hampered, not only by 
high railroad rates, but by the entire lack of railroads in many 
of the best wheat districts. The situation had not greatly im- 
proved yet in 1898, when there were few branches to the rail- 
roads, the country roads were poor and freights were high. The 
traveler still saw the long lines of camels that were silently and 
majestically treading their way through the night across the 
plains to the seaports, in successful competition with the rail- 
roads as grain carriers. After threshing, the grain is left lying 
on the ground, or it is buried in pits. In the latter case, it 
suffers less from destructive insects than if placed in granaries. 
Cartmen haul it to market. Ninety per cent of them do not 
haul their own grain, but engage in a speculative business of 
buying and selling. In the eighties, there was much fraud prac- 
ticed by these cartmen in handling wheat. Dirt was mixed 
freely with the grain. The ingenuity and resourcefulness of 
the cartmen seems almost incredible. In 1889 McDougall 
wrote : ' ' There are 10 or 11 villages in which the lower classes 
make it a trade to supply different colored earths to suit the 
color and size of the different kinds of grain. The earth is 
worked into small grains to look like grain, and the traders say 
it is impossible to winnow out this description of dirt. . . . 
Water, again, is put in to increase the weight. All these prac- 
tices are resorted to by the conveying traders in self-protection 
against the tricks of traders, who rob them in various ways."' 
A poor quality of wheat was also mixed with a good one, and 
then the whole was given a uniform color by mixing with clay. 
Firms engaged openly in selling this clay. As a result of all 
these manipulations, the wheat did not arrive at the foreign 
» Jour, of See Art., 37:644. 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 231 

market in as prime condition as might have been wished. It 
could not be shipped to Germany, and the English buyer de- 
ducted 5 per cent ''refraction." The Indian exporter soon 
learned to exei'cise cai'e lest any wheat containing less than 5 
per cent dirt should be shipped to England. He was some- 
times forced to mix 2 to 3 per cent of foreign matter with the 
wheat in order not to sustain a loss. This caused an economic 
loss, not only in annually transporting 15,000 to 20,000 tons of 
trash to England, but the English miller was obliged to devise 
machinery to clean this wheat. These evils were partially 
remedied in the nineties. In 1898, 15 grades of wheat were 
shipped to England from India. In good years, the storage 
capacity of Bombay is exhausted by the wheat brought from 
the central provinces of India. Tlie wheat of the Punjab is 
collected at Multan and shipped from Karachi. Considerable 
wheat flour is ground and exported at Bombay and other 
centei's. 

Argentina. — The Argentine wheat grower has no gTanaries 
on his farm, and consequently his entire ci'op is marketed as 
soon after harvest as possible. Lack of improved facilities and 
methods are a source of great loss. The grain is handled in 
bags, which are very expensive and which are of such poor 
quality that there is quite a loss from leakage. The country 
roads are very poor. The wheat is hauled in immense two or 
four-wheeled wagons having wheels 8 feet in diameter. The 
two-wheelers are hauled by 12 to 15 horses or mules, or by 8 to 
16 bullocks. One animal is fastened between the huge thills, 
and the others are hooked on by means of ropes tied to any 
portion of the cart to which a rope can be fastened. The yoke 
of the oxen is fastened to their horns, and the driver's seat 
is on the yoke between the heads of two oxen. The four- 
Avheelers carry from 4 to 6 tons, and require more animals to 
draw them. The hauling is not generally done by the producers 
of wheat, but by men who make a business of hauling. The 
grain is hauled from 15 to 60 miles. Corrugated iron ware- 
houses have been built at some of the principal wheat stations, 
but they are used only by the large producers and dealers. As 
a rule, warehouses are not available for the small farmer, nor 
would he store his grain if they were. He is so ignorant that 
he prefers to pile his Avheat outdoors exposed to the weather. 



2o?, THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Such grain is often damaged by rains, and these conditions pre- 
vail at the farm, at the railway station and at the seaport. 
Sometimes the piles of sacks are covered, and this greatly re- 
duces the damage. 

Transportation to the seaports is almost exclusively by rail. 
Of the 26 Argentine railways in operation in 1903, 22 were 
built mainly in order to transport wheat. The Parana is navi- 
gable to Rosaria, the only large inland city. From this point 
at least 5 railroads branch out into the wheat regions. The car 
facilities are inadequate to ship the wheat, and the bags often 
lie in the yards 2 months awaiting shipment. The grain is fre- 
quently shipped in open flat cars covered with canvas, but it 
sometimes gets wet before it is unloaded. The railways are all 
English, and consequently most of the cars are of the old Eng- 
lish type. They have a capacity of from 10 to 18 tons, but 
the many new cars being built have a capacity of from 30 to 40 
tons. The freight rates vary from 5 to 15 cents per bushel. 
They fell about 3 cents per bushel from 1895 to 1902. There 
are portions of Argentina Avhere wheat cannot be raised for 
export merely because transportation facilities are lacking. 

Altliough shii^ping facilities at the seaports ai'e growing 
rapidly they are still entirely inadequate. Ships wait for days 
before they can be loaded. Then, berthed three deep in the port, 
it takes several days more to load, especially when men carry 
the bags of wheat, one at a time. Two other methods of load- 
ing are also in use. Steam winches lift the bags, or an endless 
belt carries them. Tramp steamers of 2,500 to 6,000 tons reg- 
ister usually do the ocean transportation. The rate to Europe 
in 1903 was from 6 to 12 cents per bushel. The grain exporters 
keep branch establishments at the main points where wheat is 
raised. They buy thi-ough an agent. A price is telegraphed to 
him in the morning, and this he pays all day, as he rides from 
farm to farm. He often buys from the machine, for the ex- 
porter gets his wheat on board ship as soon as possible. Each 
buyer does his own inspecting and grading. The agent is paid 
1 per cent commission on all he buys. 

Canada. — In the mai'keting of wheat, as in nearly all other 
phases of the wheat industry, the development in Canada has 
been similar to that in the United States, only later. More 



THE MARKETING OF WHEAT 233 

than half the arable lands of Canada cannot be utilized yet be- 
canse the reqnisite population and means of transportation are 
wanting-. Some of these lands are among the best wheat lands 
in the world. The railroads are, however, rapidly ramifying 
through these regions. New trans-continental lines are being 
jilanned and built. As transportation facilities improve and 
population increases, the development of Canada will be un- 
precedented. Elevator building is at present very active in the 
Canadian northwest, both along the new lines of road and along 
the old lines. As far as the wheat trade is concerned, Winni- 
peg is the Chicago and Montreal the New York of Canada. The 
most noteworthy diffei'ence between Canada and the United 
States in connection with the marketing of wheat is in grading. 
Grading is entirely under the control of the Dominion govern- 
ment, which appoints the grain inspectors in the different mar- 
kets. Uniform grades are fixed by law for the whole country. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE PRICE OF WHEAT* 

The Factors of Price. — The price of wheat is normally de- 
termined by the world conditions of supply and demand which 
pertain to bread stuffs. The control exercised over price by 
these conditions is immediate and transient. Direct variations 
in price result from variations in supply or demand. Price in 
turn causes supply and demand to vary by reacting upon them. 
Such variations are, comparatively speaking, of slower action 
and more permanent. Legislation may also become a deter- 
mining factor of price in certain countries, as, for example, 
when import duties on grain are established. 

Supply and Demand. — Wheat and rye are the world's prin- 
cipal breadstuffs. I'here is sufficient variation in supply and 
demand to cause great fluctuations in price. Many causes of 
variation in the supply of breadstuffs exist, among which may 
be mentioned: (1) The great changes in climate and in abun- 
dance of rainfall to which the natural wheat and rye regions 
are subject; (2) the variations in acreage which result as a re- 
action to variations in price; (3) the increase in acreage re- 
sulting from the settlement of new countries; (4) the decrease 
in acreage due to planting a larger acreage of other cereals, 
especially corn, when there is an unusual demand for live 
stock feed; (5) the degree of competition, which may affect 
the supply at a given time or place; (6) the establishment or 
abolition of trade restraints by commercial treaties; (7) the 
hindering of transportation by war; and (8) the continuous 
advance of the arts of production, communication and trans- 
portation. In Eui'ope, the average annual production of rye 
is approximately as great as that of wheat, while the European 
production of both crops taken collectively averages about 70 
per cent of that of the entire world. When wheat is re- 
latively high in price, and rye is relatively low, consumption 
of the latter grain increases and the demand for the former 
decreases. 

* For criticism and many valuable suggestions on this cliapter 
the writer is indeljtecl to Prof. H. C. Kmery and Dr. J. Pease Norton. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 235 

Otli'^r causes which effect a vaiiation in the demand for wheat 
are: (1) War, which causes a variation in the foreign demand; 
(2) the standard of living is rising, and this increases the de- 
mand, especially in rye consuming countries; (3) commerce and 
the introduction of a foreign civilization may increase the con- 
sumption of wheat, as in some of the Oriental countries. The 
condition that wheat is the staple food of man in the nations 
of the highest civilization and of the greatest economic 
strength tends to keep the demand for wheat firm, while the 
fact that the world supply of wheat comes from all quarters of 
the globe tends to prevent acute scarcity of the general supply. 
The demand for breadstuffs taken collectively is comparatively 
inelastic. 

The Reactions of Price. — If the price of wheat falls so low 
that its production becomes unprofitable there will be a ten- 
dency for capital to become engaged in the production of other 
crops which yield a larger return. On the other hand, there 
are many substitutes for wheat which are at the command of 
the consumer, and which he uses when the price of wheat rises 
too high. This lessens the demand for wheat, lowei's its price, 
and decreases its production. Thus the forces of supply and 
demand always seek equilibrium. To say that the producer 
must get what he can for his product is not sufficient. If he 
does not get what is economically just, on the whole and in the 
long run, then he must stop producing, and his capital will seek 
other channels until it again receives its due return in this. 
The value of wheat to the consumer must on an average be 
high enough to cover the cost of production and the expense 
of distribution. As a general rule, the consumer is com- 
paratively more free to delay purchasing than the producer is 
to delay marketing, and hence the interest of the latter is the 
more critical one. It has been said that price is "determined 
normally by the net cost of producing an adequate supply. ' ' ' 
It is true that the pi'ice of Avheat cannot normally be below 
the cost of production. It is no less true, however, that it 
cannot be above what the consumer is willing and able to pay. 
Cost of production and value to consumer are respectively the 
minimum and maximum limits of price, and they are bott just 
as essential in determining price as the numerator ai»d 
' Industrial Commission. 6:32. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 237 

denominator are in determining the value of a frac- 
tion. Historically, demand came first, while produc- 
tion followed and grew to such proportions as was 
warranted by the demand. In modern times of enter- 
prise, however, the chain of causation may be reversed, for by 
decreasing the cost of production a larger supply at a lower 
price can be placed upon the market, and in consequence of 
the lower price demand increases and more wheat is consumed. 

Communication and Transportation become an important fac- 
tor in the price of wheat wherever the market has developed 
beyond the most limited local conditions. Prices that were 
formerly awaited for 2 or 3 months are now flashed by elec- 
tricity over the whole world during the same day on which 
they are made. A favorable location is no longer an advantage 
in determining prices, for all markets are affected simultane- 
ously by a change in either supply or demand. All improvements 
in communication and transportation resulting in a decrease of 
charges tend to lower the cost and increase the amount of 
pi'oduction peimanently, and hence they enable the producer to 
compete more successfully in the world's markets. If two 
countries have surplus wheat for export, a few cents more or 
less per bushel on the whole cost of moving may determine 
which country can sell at a price that will secure the trade. 
Ideally, the only difference of price which should exist between 
any tw^o markets, or between what the producer receives for 
his wheat and what the consumer pays, is that resulting from 
transportation and commercial charges, and the cost of such 
manufacturing processes as the wheat may be put through. 
These are the only variations that should occur in the world 
price of wheat. 

Competition and Price. — Competition is a powerful factor 
in determining the specific pi'ice paid for wheat, especially that 
paid to the producer. By means of competition, all charges 
incidental to moving wheat are kept at a minimum, while the 
price paid for the grain is kept at a maximum. For example, 
at Milton, North Dakota, a non-competitive point, 2 cents less 
Avas paid per bushel for wheat than at competitive points only 
6 miles distant. When the local elevator sj^stems combine 
against the interests of the fai'mer, the only effective remedy is 



238 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

for the farmers to combine among themselves and enlist the 
interest of the railroads. When the elevator systems also 
combine with the railroads, the farmer seems to be quite at 
their mercy. It is claimed that this condition of affairs is 
shown to exist by the recent investigation of the Interstate 
Commerce Commission, and that the elevators control prices. 
The only remedy would seem to be for the farmers to start in- 
dependent elevators, and to secure the aid of law, if necessary, 
to get their wheat shipped to the primary markets, where com- 
petition has generally kept up the level of prices. The proof 
of the latter statement is shown by the fact that the primai^ 
market with the highest level of prices has secured the traffic. 

Exportation and Price. — There is a tendency for exportation 
to decrease as population increases. When a country con- 
sumes all of the wheat which it produces, then its price of 
wheat is fixed within the country, provided there are no re- 
straints to trade, and that the cost of production is not greater 
than the cost of importing grain. As soon as a country has a 
surplus for export, aiad receives more for exported wheat than 
the home price, plus the expense of exporting, exporting will in- 
crease, the home price will rise, production will increase, and 
the price is no longer fixed within the country. The country 
Avhich buys the export may thus fix the price of wheat for the 
country which produces it, but such a price under normal con- 
ditions must always be higher than that which the producing 
country could possibly fix for itself, and consequently a benefit 
to the latter country. It is as a consumer of the world's sur- 
plus that England has held a position of such commanding im- 
portance in fixing the price of wheat. It has been asked 
whether the large combinations of grain interests can or do fix 
grain prices. The only conditions under which they could per- 
manently do so in a large market would be that they have an 
approximately complete knowledge of the conditions of supply 
and demand, and that they would be fai'-sighted enough to fix 
the price in accordance with what it naturally should be under 
the existing conditions. 

The Visible Supply and Price. — The consumers of wheat al- 
wavs have an advantage over ilic producers in that demand is 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 239 

never so tangible a factor as supply. There is always a large 
^'visible supply" of wheat, for the grain consumed during the 
entire year is produced within a few months. While the Amer- 
ican producers are now well able to carry their wheat, it is, 
nevertheless, still largely concentrated at the shipping points. 
Some of the reasons for this are the active competition of the 
primary markets to make sure of securing the grain by buying 
at once, the ample facilities for economically storing and han- 
dling wheat in great bulk at the terminal markets, and the 
presence of a class of men who, having capital and commercial 
capacity, have justified their existence by the manner in which 
they have handled the reserve supply. As all value is, in its 
last analysis, a subjective thing, the existence of this great 
visible supply must have the psychological effect of delaying, 
and perhaps lessening demand, and thus decreasing price. Since 
the producer has already thrown the wheat into the market, the 
distributer must either dispose of it at once, or, if he holds it 
indefinitely, run the risk of loss from depreciation as the next 
harvest approaches. This tends to put the consumer in a po- 
sition to set the final price on wheat, a position that is further 
strengthened by the fact that competing wheat countries of 
the southern hemisphere throw their surplus into the world 
market about midway between North American harvests. Ar- 
gentina has thus become notorious as a disturber of wheat 
prices, as have also Australia and India to a lesser extent. 
During one-fourth of the year, three-fourths of the world's 
wheat supply comes upon the market. This results in a con- 
gestion of supply which exerts a powerful influence in deter- 
mining the price for the remaining three-fourths of the year. 
While this tends to give stability of price, it favors the con- 
sumer and not the producer. An increase in the local con- 
sumption of wheat by milling is decreasing the visible supplj'. 
An impoi't duty adds the amount of the duty to the cost of 
production, and consequently must raise the price of the wheat 
imported. In the following table are given the import duties on 
Avheat and wheat flour in 1907 in the principal impoi'ting 
countries having such charges.* 

* Data furnished by U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor. 



240 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Wheat flour 

Countries Wheat per bushel per bushel 

Austria-Hungary $0.35 $0.82 

Belgium free 0.10 

France 0.36 0.55 

Germany 0.35 0.G6 

Italy ..' 0.44 0.60 

Spain 0.34 0.58 

The Market. — Price is always determined in a market. The 
old proverb, "three women and a goose make a market," is 
true, assuming that the women possess some other commodities 
which they can exchange, for all the essential primary ele- 
ments of a market ai"e present, namely: A commodity; its 
owner; and one or more other persons, each of whom wishes to 
become the owner of the commodity by exchanging it for a 
quantity of some other goods. The primary origin of the 
''supply" and tlie "demand" is external to this market, which 
is merely the point where the forces of supply and demand meet 
and attain equilibrium through the exchange of commodities. 
A market increases in size, complexity and importance as these 
elements increase in numbei', as they are modified in form, and 
as consequent manipulations arise. We found a market at the 
center of each of the three concentric circles of distribution. 
The marketing or bargaining is early concentrated in the local 
market. The local market, so long as it is independent of 
larger markets, is so limited in all of its factors as to be easily 
known in every phase and violently affected by every local 
event of importance. The city market resulted from the con- 
ditions of supply and demand pertaining to a much larger 
tem-itory, and is correspondingly more complex. It is not so 
violently affected by any single event as is the local market, 
and events tending to opposite results may offset one another. 
Prices are always a resultant of the forces or conditions of sup- 
ply and demand that exist in the whole territory tributary to 
the market, and that have been there concenti'ated, directly and 
indii'ectly. Prices can no longer be predicted from a knowledge 
of conditions in any one locality. What is ti'ue of the city 
market is pre-eminently true of the foreign or international 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 241 

market. Under normal conditions, the wider market deter- 
mines the price. After world markets had arisen, the local 
market became an insignificant factor in determining prices, 
even within its own circle of distribution. This change took 
place in the United States about the middle of the nineteenth 
century. Before this date prices of grain were determined 
chiefly by local conditions. 

Concentration of Price-Determining Influences now occurs in 
the world market. Modern transportation, which enables the 
California wheat grower to send his product to the Liverpool 
market, and modern communication, which has practically 
eliminated the time element in sending news, are the factors 
which have made the whole world tributary to the great central 
markets, where the changes that affect supply and demand are 
continually recorded, and given their due weight by the keenest 
of experts in the modification of prices. These changes vary 
greatly in character, and they are reported from every wheat 
raising quarter of the globe. If a telegram is received saying 
that the monsoon in India is overdue; that the drought in 
Kansas has been broken; that a swarm of grasshoppers has 
been seen in Manitoba; that a hot wind is blowing in Argentina; 
that navigation on the Danube is unusually early; that bad 
roads in the Red river valley ai'e preventing deliveiy; that 
ocean freights to China have risen ; or that Australian grain 
"to arrive" is fi'eely offered in London, prices rise or fall to a 
degree that corresponds to the importance attached to the news. 
New inventions and discoveries, legislative enactments and in- 
ternational agreements, political, commei'cial and industrial 
complications — all have their effect upon prices. 

The Rise of the Speculative Market. — When the local market 
was the center of all distribution, the producer, having under 
his own observation all of the factors which determined price, 
endeavored to hold his products for sale until such a time as 
when he would receive the highest pi'ice. This was the first 
forai of speculation, and it must have arisen very early in 
civilization. It has had a continuous existence until the present 
day. Practically every wheat grower who holds his crop for a 
rise in price, instead of selling it as soon as it is threshed, is a 
speculator of this class. 



242 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Dealers in Grain as a class became differentiated from the 
producers at an early date. They frequently bought and sold 
wheat, not merely for trade profits, but to make an additional 
profit by taking advantage of the fluctuations of price result- 
ing from variations in supply and demand. They bought wheat 
outright, and held it for a higher price, and thus they belonged 
to the same class of speculators as did the producers who held 
wheat. With the great development of the arts of transporta- 
tion and communication during the middle of the nineteenth 
century, there arose the market which covered the entire civi- 
lized world. In this world market, great, sudden and unforeseen 
changes in the conditions of supply and demand occurred, and 
the uncertainties of trade became so great that the possibility 
of a total loss of the capital of the dealer grew very burden- 
some. Before the great and varied mass of phenomena Avhich 
affect the price of wheat, the producers and ordinary dealers 
stood quite helpless, as far as forming an adequate judgment 
of effect on prices Avas concerned, even if they could secure 
timely reports of changed conditions. As a result, dealers be- 
came differentiated into two classes. One of these classes, the 
Avheat dealer proper, is in the market simply to secure those 
trade profits which always exist independently of speculative 
profits. The other class is that of professional speculators. 
This special class formed organizations in the large exchanges, 
all of which existed as commercial institutions in pre-specula- 
tive times. The organized speculative market arose in direct 
response to conditions which brought risks that were intolerable 
to the ordinary dealer and its development was hastened be- 
cause it took place at a time when the risks usually incident to 
the wheat trade were greatly augmented by those resulting from 
the Civil War. While two typical classes of persons, dealers 
and speculators, are engaged in the grain trade, it must not be 
understood that these classes are mutually exclusive. There 
ai'e lai'ge millers and producers, for example, who keep well 
enough infoi'med on the market to engage properly and profit- 
ably in speculative dealings. 

The Machinery of Speculation. — The eai'ly speculator stood 
I'eady to purchase wheat at the current pi'ice, and he as- 
sumed the risk of a fall in price in the hope that he might gain 
from a rise in price. ''Bull" speculation, which consists of 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 243 

first buying, and then selling at a later date, is the term by 
which the operations of this speculator are designated. He al- 
ways desires a rise in price, and endeavors to bull the market 
by buying. He operates on the "long" side of the market. 
This speculator also contracts in the present to purchase wheat 
at some future date at a price which he now fixes. Here also 
he assumes the risk of a fall in price in the hope that he may 
gain from a rise, for if the price rises above what he has 
agreed to pay at the fixed future date, known as the date of 
delivery, then he is able to sell his wheat on or before this date 
at a higher price than he paid. In the present contract for 
future purchase is involved one form of the transaction tech- 
nically called the "future." This term is defined by Emery 
as a "contract for the future delivery of some commodity, 
without reference to specific lots, made under the rules of some 
commercial body in a set form, by which the conditions as to the 
iniit of amount, the quality, and the time of delivery are stereo- 
typed, and only the determination of the total amount and the 
price is left open to the contracting parties. ' ' ^ 

The other type of speculation is "bear" speculation, which 
consists of first selling, and then buying at a later date. In 
such speculation, the operator stands ready to sell wheat at 
the current price for present delivery, or at a fixed price for 
delivery at a given future date. This speculator assumes the 
risk of a rise in price in the hope that he may gain from a fall 
in price. His operations generally consist of selling in the pres- 
ent for future delivery. Most frequently he owns no wheat at 
the date of sale, but hopes to secure the contracted grain before 
the date of delivery (which is called covering the sale), and at 
a price below that at which he sold. He always desires a fall in 
price, and endeavors to bear the market by selling. He operates 
on the "short" side of the market, and his "short-sales" are 
always ' * futures. ' ' 

Grain Privileges, or "Puts and Calls." — Insurance against 
loss in wheat transactions may be secured by buying a "put" 
or a "call" from a maker of privileges. For example, if a 
dealer is holding wheat that is worth 80 cents per bushel, for a 
certain price he can buy the privilege of selling the wheat to 
a speculator at 791/2 cents per bushel during any period of 
^ Speculation, p. 46. 



244 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

time that may be agreed upon. Having done so, he cannot lose 
more than one-half cent per bushel, plus what he paid for the 
"pntJ' If the price advances, he sells at a profit, but if it 
falls, he delivers or ''puts" the vpheat to the speculator. Sim- 
ilarly, a "call" is the privilege of buying wheat at a certain 
price within a given time, and it is most frequently used in 
protecting short sales. Grain exporters sometimes protect their 
contracts with privileges. Dealings in privileges, however, have 
not always been held in the highest repute, and they have even 
been prohibited by the rules of some commercial exchanges. A 
privilege has no value unless its maker can meet his engage- 
ments. 

Deposits Securing Contracts for futuie delivery may be de- 
manded. In this case, each party makes a money deposit large 
enough to secure the other from loss in case of failure to fulfill 
the contract. If one party thus "calls an original margin," he 
himself must perforce deposit an amount equal to that for 
which he calls. In New York, the maximum deposit that can 
be called for wheat is 10 cents per bushel. Additional mar- 
gins, equal to the fluctuations in price, may l)e called for, and 
usually are, even if there was no original margin. 

Delivery. — The rules of grain trading on the various specula- 
tive exchanges contemplate the actual delivery on maturity of 
contracts of all wheat sold. Each contract mentions the time 
for which it is to run, and its maturity is on the last day of 
this term, which is usually the current month. In the export- 
ing and forwarding of wheat, the time is generally determined 
by special contract, but in the general speculative markets the 
current trading is in the deliveries for July, September, De- 
cember and May. The price for immediate delivery is that 
current for the next succeeding delivery, less the carrying 
charge to the beginning of the jieriod of the next delivery. 

The operator who sells 100,000 bushels of Avheat in a specula- 
tive deal has three ways in which he can settle the contract on 
or before the date of maturity: He must either deliver the actual 
wheat; buy the same quantity of wheat on the same exchange; 
or lay himself liable to a damage suit for non-delivery. In 
comparatively few instances does he deliver the actual wheat, 
which he might j)ossess, or which he might purchase in another 
market. If he buys Avheat on the same exchange, his operations 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 245 

are settled through the clearing house, which is the same in 
principle as that of a bank or stock exchange. If A buys 
wheat fi'om B and sells the same quantity to C, the clearing 
house settles both contracts for him by having B deliver to C. 
The great bulk of transactions are settled in this manner, which 
involves only the payment of differences. The latter may arise 
from differences in amount or grade of wheat bought and sold, 
or from differences in price. Thus, if a speculator buys May 
wheat in April, he can avoid having the actual grain delivered 
to himself by selling the same quantity of wheat before the date 
of maturity of the conti'act. The man who buys wheat for 
May may do so in two different Avays: he may buy actual wheat 
and store it until May, or he may buy a future. In the same 
Avay, the seller for future delivery may sell actual wheat, or 
he may sell short and cover the sale before the date of maturity. 
If the speculator has bought May wheat, and wishes to hold the 
grain longer than until that date, he can do so by selling his 
May wheat at the date of maturity, and at the same time buy- 
ing July wheat. He will pay the cost of storage, and he will 
pay or receive the difference in price, according as July wheat 
is higher or lower than May wheat. Speculators as well as 
dealers sometimes buy actual wheat and store it in anticipation 
of a rise in price. Contracts calling for immediate delivery are 
called "cash" or "spot" sales. 

General Warehouse Receipts. — It is obvious that a commodity 
can be the subject of extensive "future" dealings only on 
condition that it has the representative quality. Early lake 
and canal shipments of wheat were sold ahead by sample "to 
arrive" and "for shipment" as an insurance against fluctuating 
prices, but the system of grading and general receipts alone 
made possible the real future, which is the great modern con- 
tribution to the machinery of speculation. These general re- 
ceipts are usually reliable, although at least one gigantic swindle 
has been perpetrated by means of fraudulent warehouse re- 
ceipts. From the beginning, however, the receipts have been 
considered as good as the wheat which they represented. In 
other words, wheat had become a perfect representative com- 
modity. Being a staple article when classified, receipts issued 
against graded wheat are as current and negotiable as a bank 
check. They haye the same meaning in Liverpool or Antwerp 



246 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

as in Chicago or New York. Tliis greatly facilitates dealing in 
wheat, for a contract can be fulfilled by delivering a receipt. 
Under ordinary conditions §uch receipts can be purchased in the 
open market at any time, and consequently it is possible to 
make a contract to deliver in the future receipts not yet owned. 
Short sales of receipts complete the speculative machinery. 

"Hedging Sales." — Two lines of compensating contracts are 
frequently carried by dealers and manufacturers, one in their 
business and one in the speculative market. For example, if a 
merchant buys 10,000 bushels of wheat for export, he sells the 
same quantity of wheat in the speculative market. Later, when 
he sells his wheat, he buys in the market. Hedging in this man- 
ner is widely practiced by persons who deal in wheat for trade 
profits only, for it eliminates all risks due to fluctuating prices. 

Arbitrage Transactions consist in buying in one market and 
selling in another when there is difference enough between the 
prices of the two markets to make such operations profitable. 
Arbitrage continues until the relative supply and demand of 
the two markets is so changed that prices in both mai'kets are 
practically the same. This does not mean, however, that specu- 
lators change prices at will by manipulating supply and demand 
in the various markets, for the speculative supply and demand 
in the market are, under normal conditions, entirely dependent 
upon the actual supjdy and demand existing outside of the 
market. 

The Functions of Speculation. — Speculation is the flywheel 
Avhicli imparts to the modern commercial machine a motion so 
uniform that all of its parts operate continuously and simul- 
taneously. As men produce and consume, as well as exchange, 
according to comparative prices, it also directs the production 
and consumption of commodities into the most advantageous 
channels. Professional speculators are the men best equipped 
for securing and inteipreting news of variations in supply and 
demand, and they determine a price that, with slight local varia- 
tions, prevails throughout the Avheat industry of the entire 
world. Price, in turn, is a sensitive barometer Avhich records 
the influence of every event which immediately or mediately 
affects supply or demand. Speculation anticipates price-deter- 
mining events to such an extent tliat it relieves the pi'odueer 
from the risk of growing wheat that he may be obliged to sell 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 247 

below the cost of production on account of an unforeseen change 
in the market. The directive control exerted through prices 
"is its service to society in general." The "risk-bearing func- 
tion is its service to trade as sucli." That the need of specu- 
lation is proportionate to the magnitude of the risk element is 
axiomatic. Through the speculative market flows a continuously 
moving stream of business which will carry the risks of mer- 
chant, pi'oducer, manufacturer and consumer alike, and at any 
time or place. Speculation alone makes hedging transactions 
possible. By its anticipations, it lessens price fluctuations. The 
short seller is the most potent influence in preventing wide 
fluctuations in price, for he "keeps prices down by short sales 
and then keeps them strong by his covei'ing purchases."' The 
producer always finds a ready market, and large stocks of wheat 
can be carried over from a season of abundance to one of 
scarcity without great risk of loss. 

The Speculator. — The American is unquestionably the greatest 
and most typical of all wheat speculators. The stupendous 
undertakings which he sometimes assumes are characterized 
with an impoi'tance, as well as with a boldness and a brilliancy, 
that excites world-wide interest. He is practically the manager 
and director of the world's wheat movement. If objection is 
made to the great scope of his influence, it must be remembered 
that experience has already taught him that he cannot continue 
long in his position of importance unless he solves the mighty 
world problem that is ever presenting itself, the problem of 
providing bread for the non-producers of wheat. Eminently 
practical and clearheaded, his future vision is as keen and pene- 
trating as was that of the prophets of old. He is necessarily a 
cosmopolite, and he knows the traits and needs of many races. 
His facilities for acquiring information are unsurpassed. The 
governmental weather map shows him the rising storm which 
threatens Kansas wheat. The experiment station bulletin in- 
forms him that the next year's crop will be damaged 20 per 
cent by the Hessian fly. The state government weighs and 
grades his Avheat. He knows the progress of harvesting in Aus- 
tralia and Argentina. The transportation companies give him 
regular quotations of freight rates to all parts of the world. 
Telegrams and cablegrams give him immediately the changes of 
1 Emery, Speculation, p. 121. 



248 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

price in the principal markets. He has an intimate knowledge 
of the visible supply of wheat that is stored in the world's 
great terminal elevators, and of the wheat that is being trans- 
ported in car and vessel. His eye is always on the fine waver- 
ing ratio line between supply and demand, and from its move- 
ments he detei-mines the form of his price line. The markets 
make wheat so liquid for him that the banks will advance him 
money at the lowest rates on elevator certificates in larger pro- 
portion to their value than they will on the safest real estate. 

The Pit — The Chicago Board of Trade is perhaps the most 
powerful and famous institution which furnishes an organiza- 
tion for dealing in wheat. When tlie speculators assemble in 
the pit, the board become a clearing house of opinion that forms 
a very picturesque and dramatic institution. Their methods of 
business are an excellent illustration of development brought 
about simply by utility. The very life of the institution de- 
pends upon the scrupulous honesty of all its members. It is 
more profitable for the operators to make certain honest gains 
than to destroy the institution by endeavoring to make dis- 
honest ones, and the degree of integrity that can be attained 
under these circumstances is truly remarkable. Not that 
brokers and speculators are an unusually upright class of men, 
as judged by their actions when not operating on the exchange, 
but that it simply pays to be honest. Any quantity of wheat 
can be bought on the floor of the exchange by a sign, a nod or a 
shout, or by a scrawl on a trading card. Either party to the 
deal could easily claim that the sign had not been noticed or 
understood, and the contention could not be disproven, nor 
could the contract be enforced before any court in the land. 
Considering the great confusion and excitement of the pit, the 
ease and rapidity with which fortunes are often made and lost, 
and the many opportunities and temptations for dishonest deal- 
ings, it is certainly an exceptional record that the Chicago 
Board of Trade finds it necessary to expel on an average only 
five members a year. 

The Volume of Transactions. — Perhaps 90 per cent of all 
transactions on the Chicago board are pure speculation, neither 
side expecting to receive or deliver a bushel of grain. The 
"spot" sales on the New York produce exchange in 1895 
amounted to 43,405,076 bushels, while the ''futures" amounted 



THE PRiCE OP WHEAT 249 

to 1,443,875,000 bushels. The New York market for wheat is 
small compared to that of Chicago. Record of the amount of 
trading in options is no longer kept, but in a lively market it 
runs into millions of bushels daily. Under very exceptional 
circumstances it is said that ten millioii bushels of wheat have 
been sold in the Chicago pit in less than ten minutes. 

The unit on the Chicago and New York exchanges is 5,000 
bushels of wheat. In Chicago ] per cent variation is allowed 
on the contract, and in New York 5 per cent. When wheat is 
sold in ''boat-load lots to arrive" 8,000 bushels is understood as 
the unit, and 10 per cent deficit or excess does not vitiate the 
delivery. 

The Evils of Speculation. — The modern speculative system is 
of such recent origin, and its opei'ations seem so complex to the 
ordinary layman who is unacquainted with produce exchanges, 
that it was and is little understood. Its evils were more easily 
recognized than its benefits. Without an understanding of 
speculation, it was easy to ascribe many evils to it with which it 
had no connection. "The modern system of 'futures' has 
proved itself a convenient scapegoat for all the evils of the grain 
trade. It is charged with being the cause of low prices and of 
high prices, with increasing trade risks, and with diminishing 
them till there is no chance for profit. A few years ago the 
farming class clamored for the suppression of the speculative 
market, while recently the Kansas farmers started a movement 
to contribute a cent a bushel on all their wheat to a fund for 
the benefit of the most daring speculator of the Chicago mar- 
ket."' As the functions of modern speculation were better un- 
derstood, its advantage became more apparent, and the specu- 
lator was looked upon as something more than a mere gambler. 
Opposition became more rational and less intense. The evils of 
speculation may be divided into three general classes: (1) Cor- 
ners; (2) public gambling and "bucket shops;" and (3) manip- 
ulations in general. 

Corners. — To "corner" wheat is to seeui'e such a control over 
the existing supply as to be able to dictate its price. Success 
in this is so difficult that it is vei'y rare. Corners and the op- 
position to them are not of modern origin, for even in antiquity 
there were prohibitions to cornering grain." Perhaps the first 
^ Emery, Eoon. Jour. (1899) 9:45. 
- Lexis, Handworterbuch d. Staatswissenschaften, 3:861. 



250 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

great corner was that of Joseph in Egypt. He bought grain 
outright. This was the only type of corner that could be effected 
before the advent of the modern speculative market. The appear- 
ance of the world market has made impossible the perfect con- 
trol of the whole supply of actual wheat. Even partial control is 
possible only under very unusual and favorable conditions. 
Neither can any great or extended control over local supply be 
maintained, on account of the ease and rapidity with which 
wheat can be transported to any market. 

The speculative corner arose with the practice of selling short. 
This is not a corner of the world supply of wheat, but only of 
wheat for delivery at a particular time and place. Such a cor- 
ner is always run by the bulls, who effect the overselling of the 
market by securing control of local supplies and by inducing 
short-selling. The result is that there is no wheat with which 
to cover short-sales. Such a corner is absolutely effective, for 
the short sellers must cover their contracts before the end of 
the montli, or default. It is not without its difficulties, how- 
ever. In order that the shorts can move no wheat for delivery 
except on the terms of the cornerer, he must buy at rising 
prices all that is offered. Almost invariably the amount that 
can be offered at the increased prices is more than was calcu- 
lated. Corners in Chicago have been broken by the big Minne- 
sota millers who, at the last moment, have found it profitable 
to sell their large stores by telegraph. After the corners were 
broken, they could buy back most of this wheat before it had 
left their elevators. 

After the supply has been successfully cornered the hardest 
part of the game is still to be played. The grain accumulated 
in cornering the supply must be disposed of. This is what 
Hutchinson, the first great cornerer, called "getting rid of the 
corpse." High prices were paid for enormous quantities of 
wheat that must be sold on a continually falling market, for 
after the cornerer settles with the shorts the pi'ice falls at 
once. He must squeeze enough out of the shorts to make him- 
self whole in selling his own accumulation at the lower price. 
In such a corner wheat in general does not rise in price, but 
only wheat for delivery at a particular time in that market 
where the corner was run. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 251 

As Chicago is the great center of the wheat trade, it is the 
most advantageous place for running a corner, and the Chicago 
Board of Trade has been the scene of the great corners. The 
first one was run by B. P. Hutchinson in 1867. He bought the 
million bushels of contract wheat stored in Chicago warehouses, 
and all of the options, or privileges, that he could induce the 
shorts to sell. At the maturity of their contracts, the sellers 
wei'e i;nable to deliver the wheat which they had sold. They 
"walked to the captain's office," and settled their accounts 
at $2.85 per bushel. Within an hour after they had settled, 
the price of wheat fell 50 cents, and within a day it fell 90 
cents. It was an attractive manipulation, and looked easy. 
John B. Lyon repeated the operation during the next year, and 
the price rose to $2.20 per bushel. In 1872, Lyon started an- 
other corner, but the Northwest now had more wheat than he 
could control with his limited capital. The corner broke ruin- 
ously, and within two days the price fell 50 cents. Corners were 
run on the Chicago board in 1880, 1881 and 1882, but they were 
of no great magnitude. 

In 1887 a mj-sterious ''bull clique" was buying strongly of 
the May option. The clique was variously accredited as being 
John W. Mackay and his bonanza friends; as the Standard Oil 
millionaires; and as E. L. Harper and some of his Cincinnati 
associates. The conflict between the clique and the trade re- 
sulted disastrously to the former. When the wreck was cleared 
away, E. L. Harper was found in the debris. Accused of looting 
the Fidelity National bank of Cincinnati, of which he was 
vice-president, he was sent to the Ohio penitentiary, but was 
subsequently pardoned.^ The last chapter of the corner was 
written in 1906, when the United States circuit court rendered a 
verdict against E. L. Harper for $5,280,333 in favor of the re- 
ceiver of the Cincinnati bank. * 

Another corner put wheat to the two dollar mark in 1888. 
This was a corner in September wheat, and B. P. Hutchinson 
was again a prominent manipulator. He figured that not more 
tlian three million bushels could be delivered to him on his 
contracts, but this amount was exceeded by 330,000 bushels on 
the last day of September. It was these, and not the three 

1 Pavne, Century, 65:748. 

= Wall St. Jour., Jan. 6, 1906. 



252 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

million, that seemed excessive. ^ It was the same old story of 
the supply at the increased price being underestimated. 

The difficulties of running a corner increased with the world's 
production of wheat. Not only did it require more capital on 
account of the greater supply of wheat, but there were always 
many sources from which wheat unexpectedly poured into the 
market and broke the price. In the eighties, India wheat be- 
came a factor in defeating corners in the Chicago and San 
Francisco markets. As the operations of the bull clique in- 
crease in magnitude they cannot be concealed, and ' ' the shorts 
become extremely wary about getting in too deep." Traders 
as a class had a pronounced aversion to corners, "for they broke 
people, unsettled values, and made the pit as dangerous as a 
powder mine." By 1878, many of those who were best quali- 
fied to know did not believe that it was still possible to run a 
successful corner. 

In spite of all these opinions, however, in spite of the gigantic 
magnitude and numerous difficulties of the task, it remained 
for a young man with gi'eat command of capital, with amazing 
audacity, with unlimited self-confidence, with an unusual capac- 
ity for appi-eciating and compi'ehending extensive business sit- 
uations, and with a prodigious recklessness, to show that even 
under conditions existing at the end of the nineteenth century, 
not only is a successful speculative corner possible, but also a 
corner in actual wheat. " Joseph Leiter appeared in 1897, and 
his operations extended over about a year before they closed in 
June, 1898. He began with the strongest position ever held in 
the wheat trade, for the world's Avheat ci'op in 1897 was less 
than that of 1894 by over 400,000,000 bushels, and less than that 
of 1895 by over 300,000,000 bushels, while the production of 
Europe was over 200,000,000 bushels less in 1897 than in 189G. 
The United States was practically the only country that had a 
large surplus for export. Leiter 's plan was to control this sur- 
plus, and make Europe pay his price for it. With this end in 
view, he sent an anny of purchasers into the Northwest, "con- 
tracted for vast storage space, chartered miles of cars and a 

' Hutchinson. N. Amer. Rev., 153:416-7. 

- For verifying the correctness of thi.s account of the Tjeiter 
corner and for furnishing important statistics used in the account, 
the writer is indebted to Mr. Joseph Leiter, wlio ran the corner. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 253 

whole fleet of vessels, secured large contracts for delivery 
abroad, and prepared to supply all comers at good prices. ' ' ' 

Opposed to Leiter were the elevator interests, headed by 
Philip Armour, as wily and dangerous opponent in a wheat deal 
as could well be found. Leiter was endeavoring to establish his 
corner by buying more wheat than Armour could delivei'. Ar- 
mour was endeavoring to deliver more wheat than Leiter could 
pay for, and thus break his price. The battle for supremacy 
which followed is one of the most spectacular in our commercial 
history. Leiter soon held not only millions of bushels of actual 
wheat, but also contracts for millions of bushels of the Decem- 
ber delivery in Chicago. The latter were chiefly short sales by 
Armour and the elevator people, who already held enormous 
quantities of wheat, and who expected to deliver actual wheat 
for every bushel contracted. Being in the elevator business, 
they were thoroughly equipped for extensive buying and rapid 
delivery. Their agents and those of Leiter frequently were 
competitors in securing grain. With such competition, the price 
of wheat began to jump. At every upward movement of the 
price "grain appeared as if by magic." By December it was 
thought that Leiter had the Chicago market cornered, but Ar- 
mour used steel prowed tugs in plowing through the ice at the 
bead of the lakes, and made a midwinter movement by lake and 
rail of 6,000,000 bushels from the interior. Unprecedented quan- 
tities of wheat were poured into Chicago. With perfect equa- 
nimity, Leiter not only paid for every bushel of it, but marked 
the price up from 85 cents to $1.09. He is -reported to have 
taken over nine million bushels in one month. Armour was 
able to deliver all that he had sold, and Leiter was able to pay 
for all that he had bought. A great battle had been fought, but 
which man out-generaled the other, and with whom was the 
victory? The bond was paid, but just what its nominations 
were will perhaps never be known. 

After the deal, Leiter owned enormous quantities of wheat. 
He seemed in no haste to sell, however, and began buying May 
wheat. His ambition seemed boundless, and his confidence un- 
paralleled. The tension was great, and his movements were 
watched by the trade and by the public with the intensest 
interest. The foreign demand remained strong, and all of the 

* Emery, Econ. Jour.. 9:56. 



254 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

market factors were bullish. The Spanish-American war could 
not have come more opportunely if it had been contrived for 
the deal. Europe now desired to purchase its wheat at once, 
for a grave vision of Spanish men-of-war cutting off American 
wheat shipments arose. The French import duties of 36 cents 
per bushel were suspended. Other countries suspended similar 
duties. Anticipations of bearish crop news were not fulfilled. 
These conditions were most favorable for the exportation of 
wheat, and Leiter took every advantage of them. He seemed 
to have a monopoly of the wheat business. How profitable a 
business it was, however, is not known, for many claims were 
made that he was paying freight charges and granting large dis- 
counts on export wheat. That the demand was not purely spec- 
ulative is shown by the fact that low grades of wheat were 
bought heavily. Leiter 's profits were figured far into the mil- 
lions by the newspapers, and the pluck and coolness with which 
he had carried through the great deal largely won for him the 
admiration of the American public, in spite of the prejudice 
against speculation. He continued operations by selling off his 
May wheat and buying about all the cash wheat that came into 
the market. His further pui-chases may have been necessary 
in order to maintain prices, but it was a widely prevalent opin- 
ion that he courted the inevitable by not furling sail. 

It is claimed that at one time in his wheat corner Leiter had 
$5,000,000 profits, but in the end he lost this and millions more. 
Wheat bought by him as low as 64^^ cents per bushel sold at 
$1.85. At one period he controlled 35,000,000 bushels of cash 
wheat and over 140,000,000 bushels under options. He ex- 
ported and sold 25,000,000 bushels during the course of his 
famous deal. He Avas carrying about 15,000,000 bushels of 
cash wheat in the Northwest and in the course of transporta- 
tion to Europe on June 13, 1898, when the tremendous load be- 
came too .heavy to cany, and his deal ended. 

The details of his manipulations cannot be known. He 
doubtless lost a fortune, and he completely disoi'ganized the 
wheat business for 10 months. It is claimed that *' Leiter 's 
gambling in human food" caused a gi-eat rise in the price of 
bread in England and on the Continent, and that it brought 
about riots and bloodshed in Italy. While the operations of 
Leiter undoubtedly had a marked influence on the price of 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 255 

wheat, an influence that was not merely that of a speculative 
squeeze, but such as to be felt throughout the world, it is en- 
tirely unjust to attribute to them the great rise in price and 
consequent hardships, for "the high prices of wheat from 
August to June were not mainly the work of Mr. Leiter. For 
the first time in many years the bears in the wheat market were 
destined to learn the lesson that the production of wheat might 
run far short of the required needs, and, whatever direction 
the efforts at manipulation had taken, the price of wheat was 
bound to make remarkable advances in the season 1897-98. 
Leiter was wise enough to recognize the way things were going 
and to early put himself in a positon to profit from the in- 
evitable outcome, and it was only when he tried to control the 
market in the face of adverse conditions that he failed."* 

It is claimed that an international corner of the suiplus wheat 
of the world was proposed to the United States by the Russian 
government in 1896. The two govei-nments were to buy wheat 
at $1 a bushel, and were to sell none below the price which 
would cover all expense of buying it. The theory was that all 
of the wheat which could be produced at that price would be 
needed for food, and that the consumers would pay the price 
without either government having to buy any wheat. This vis- 
ionary plan met with no support from the United States. 

Public Gambling and "Bucket Shops." — The ordinary dealer 
or producer can do nothing more foolhai-dy than to risk his 
small capital in speculating and "playing the market," for be 
has no means of adequately knowing the world-wide conditions 
whicYi determine price, he has not the judgment for properly in- 
terpreting such conditions even if he could know them, and 
those conditions often bring about results of such a magnitude 
as to sink a fortune completely in a very short time, if the 
speculator does not keep in touch and harmony with price- 
determining events. The character of speculation has changed 
somewhat with the increase in wheat supply, and fortunes are 
now made by men who watch the drift, and shape their way 
fi'om day to day, "like prudent merchants, according to the 
current. ' ' 

The "bucket shop" made its first appearance about a quarter 
of a centuiy ago. It is always ready to take the opposite side 

* Emery, Econ. Jour., 9:G2. 



256 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

of any speculative transaction which may be j^roposed. It deals 
on margins only, and as a rule its transactions are never exe- 
cuted either in a market or on a board of trade. It acts as a 
clearing house for the deals of its patrons by matching con- 
tracts, that is, purchases and sales. Those contracts that are 
matched cancel each other, at least as far as the bucket shop is 
concerned. Being simply booked, they never come into the 
market, and can have no effect on prices. It is only when the 
bucket shop has a large balance of contracts on one side of the 
market that it sometimes fears a loss and seeks insurance by 
itself making the counterbalancing transactions in the specu- 
lative market. It is only this small fraction of the bucket 
shop's transactions that really comes into the market and af- 
fects prices through the medium of the speculative supply and 
demand. 

According to the law of chances, the bucket shop has an en- 
tirely safe and sound basis from its own point of view. By 
matching contracts it makes its patrons carry the greatest part 
of its insurance. The remainder of the insurance is carried by 
the bucket siiop itself. Its advantages over its patrons are in 
three ways. It carries the risks of only a small fraction of the 
contracts involved. As a result of this, on a relatively smaller 
amount of capital, its chances of pei'maneney are greatly in- 
creased. By being in continuous existence it secures the effects 
of advantageous changes in price as well as the disadvantageous 
ones. These will, at least in a measm-e, offset each other. It 
charges the same commissions as the exchanges and thus has 
a substantial income. The speculator, however, not only must 
carry all of his risks himself, but usually his capital is also very 
limited and he has no regular income from transactions. When 
his capital has been engulfed by a disadvantageous change in 
price, his operations must cease, and he secures no benefits from 
subsequent advantageous changes. The great revenue of the 
bucket shop consists chiefly of its commissions, but it is also 
continually acquiring the capital which is sunk by its patrons. 
How certain a process this is, is shown by the fact that the list 
of names of those dealing Avith the bucket shop usually changes 
completely within a few years. If the game were a profitable 
one to the speculator, it is quite safe to assume that his name 
would remain permanently on the list. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 257 

Not only is it true that *'the local bucket shop is as effica- 
cious" as the board of trade in enabling the "novice prophets" 
to exploit their theories and lose their money, but it is proving 
itself to be more so. Varying estimates assume that there are 
from 10,000 to 25,000 bucket shops scattered throughout the 
whole country. This is ample evidence of the profits of the 
business. Competent observers have estimated that these es- 
tablishments have deflected from the regular speculative ex- 
changes from 50 to 75 per cent of the business that would 
otherwise go to them. The New York stock exchange requires 
the speculator to deposit a 10 per cent margin on his transac- 
tions, and the smallest unit traded is 100 shares. The consoli- 
dated exchange in Chicago requires a 5 per cent margin, with 
10 shares as a minimum unit traded. These minima are large 
enough to keep out a large class of persons with small capital 
whose operations are pure gambling. The bucket shop, how- 
ever, usually requires a margin of only 1 per cent, and the 
minimum unit traded varies from ten to two shares. The 
bucket shop is prepared to do business with a half point margin 
on two shares. What is true of stock is also true of wheat as 
to the relative size of margins required and units traded on 
regular exchanges and on bucket shops. Consequently the 
bucket shop affords greater opportunity than the exchange to 
''play the market" and it is more frequently sought by those 
who have little capital and less knowledge on which to 
''speculate." 

The professional speculator has a true economic function in 
our system of distribution, but gambling by outsiders is per- 
nicious, and should be done away with as soon as this is practi- 
cable. Such gambling, however, is not more pernicious when 
done on the floor of a bucket shop than when done on the floor 
of the Chicago Board of Trade, a fact recognized by the United 
States Circuit Court of Appeals in more than one instance. In 
view of the business which the bucket shop is diverting from 
the regular exchanges, it is but natural that the latter should 
oppose the bucket shop with all their powers. Greatly as the 
boards of trade pride themselves over the high and lofty plane 
of honor upon which they transact business, they do not hesi- 
tate to designate^ uncompromisingly as "pernicious gambling" 
1 Hill, N. Y. Commercial, Sept., 1903. Indus. Com.. Vol. 6. 



258 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

the operations of bucket shops — the very operations, in a large 
measure, that were formerly carx'ied on upon the boards of 
trade. This opposition is merely an effort to regain that part 
of their business which has attached to it the bulk of the evils 
of all their business. Brokers "bucket" orders on their own 
account, a practice which the exchanges endeavor to stop. 

Manipulations in General. — Speculation depends upon price 
fluctuations, but price fluctuations are decreasing. There is 
then the tendency to resort to all possible "manipulations" in 
order to cause abnormal fluctuations in price. Fraudulent and 
immoral means are often utilized in such efforts. In the produce 
market price can be influenced by the operator in only two ways. 
"He must either buy or sell the commodity himself, or he 
must persuade others to buy or sell." By such operations, 
however, a speculator with sufficient capital may bring about a 
rise or fall in price, but it seems to require unexpected crop 
conditions favorable to the manipulation in order to bring 
success. 

Legal Restraints. — The feeling against speculation in the 
United States has been strongest when prices were depressed. 
In the early nineties it resulted in the introduction of several 
"anti-option" bills in congress. None of them became a law, 
but two of them passed one branch of congress, and thei'e was 
much public sympathy in support of the measures. Much 
earlier some of the state legislatures made an effort to stop 
trading in futures. Some very stringent laws were passed by 
various states during the eighties. They generally considered 
short selling and trading on margins as gambling. The ten- 
dency to legislate in this direction seems to have lessened, and 
some of the statutes which Avere passed were soon repealed. 

Speculation in Foreign Countries. — Sales of grain before it 
was threshed were forbidden in England in 1357, and in the 
Ilanse cities in 1417. Time dealings in grain were forbidden in 
^.Antwerp in 1698. During the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, practices similar to those of the modern speculative mar- 
ket were common in the European grain trade. The system did 
not become wddely developed, however, until the nineteenth 
century. In 1883 the Liverpool clearing house was established 
in connection Avith the maize and wheat trade. It began after 
the American fashion, but was uot extensively used before the 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT ^ 259 

close of the decade. The London produce cleai'ing house began 
business in 1888, and wheat was one of the products dealt in. 
Business in futures, however, seems to have appeared in London 
as early as 1887. This first effort was a failure on account of 
the prejudice against speculation, and because several stan- 
dards of wheat were dealt in. The London clearing house made 
another effort in 1897. Only Northern Spring No. 1 wheat was 
dealt in, and to make certain of the grade, a Duluth elevator 
certificate was always demanded. The grade in futures grew 
slowly at first, but seems to have become permanently estab- 
lished now. 

In Germany, a drastic law forbidding grain futures was 
passed in 1896. On the whole its effect does not seem to have 
been advantageous. As a result, Berlin, fonnerly one of the 
most influential grain markets of Europe, has fallen to the rank 
of a provincial market. Berlin merchants transferred some of 
their speculations to Liverpool, New Yoi-k and Chicago. Com- 
mission merchants have disappeared, price fluctuations have 
been greater, and the small dealer has been at a special disad- 
vantage.^ 

Legislation against speculation seems to have been very gen- 
eral by the time of the last decade of the nineteenth century. 
One exception seems to have been France, where options and 
futures were practically sanctioned by law. In Hungary, 
Sweden and NorAvay there was no legislation on futures. The 
courts of Belguim treated futures under the general betting law. 
In Switzerland the law prohibited dealings in which there was 
no intention to deliver the goods. The deal Avas not legal in 
Austria unless the amount concerned had actually been paid or 
dcposit'^d. In Greece dealing by i^ayment of differences was 
held to be null and void under the old Roman law, which was 
still in force. Sales entailing payment of differences only were 
illegal in Argentina. 

General Results of Speculation. — The speculative grower who 
held his wheat until it seemed an opportune time to sell was the 
far-sighted, conservative man of the flrst part of the nineteenth 
century. Conditions have so changed that, unless there is lack 
of transportation facilities, or lack of competition among buy- 
ers, he is the greatest and most reckless of all speculators, if the 
^ U. S. Consular Reports, 64:438-444. 



260 . THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

degree of ignorance under which he is operating is the test of 
recklessness. Even many of the large milling and elevator 
companies insure themselves j'egularly by hedging. 

Statistics show that since the advent of speculation, fluctua- 
tions in the price of grain have been of smaller extent, com- 
paring year by yeai*. Such fluctuations as do remain are changes 
of a more gradual nature, and the gradations are much finer. 
For example, wheat was formerly quoted in fourths of a cent a 
bushel, while now it is quoted in sixteenths of a cent a bushel. 
A half century ago, traders required a margin of 10 cents a 
bushel for carrying wheat. Now the margin is 2 cents. With 
the minimizing of risks, profits for carrying them fell. In part, 
these changes are doubtless the result of other concomitant de- 
velopments, but there is no question of their being chiefly due 
to the development of speculation.^ As to the agreement of 
present prices of futures with future cash prices, little, if any, 
increased accui'acy of prediction is shown. While there have 
been improvements in the methods of speculation, there has also 
been an increase in the size and complexity of the world wheat 
market, a factor which would tend to decrease the accuracy of 
prediction. 

The increasing unifonnity of price tends to decrease the 
amount of business done upon the exchanges, for this business is 
dependent upon price variations. This tendency of prices to 
remain more steady will be increased with the further con- 
centration of commercial wheat interests. A similar develop- 
ment has taken place in the case of other commodities, such as 
oil and pork. In these commodities prices are practically 
fixed by a small group of men who know, and, in a measure, 
control supply and demand, and there are few price fluctuations 
left to serve as a basis for speculative dealings. Consequently 
operations no longer have their former magnitude. Local con- 
sumption of wheat will increase with the growth of population, 
and less actual wheat will be bought and sold at the terminal 
and export markets. The force of these influences is certain 
to be reflected on the speculative exchanges. The opportunity 
for men to indulge their gambling procli\aties by means of 
the bucket shop; the growing prosperity of the country; the 
increasing steadiness of the price of wheat on account of the 
1 Emery, Speculation, pp. 124-165. 



THE PRICE OF WHEAT 261 

growing perfection of the speculative machinery and of the 
knowledge of the conditions of supply and demand; and the 
increasingly great combinations of commercial wheat interests, 
already foreshadowed by the large combinations of transporta- 
tion, elevator and milling interests, will continually reduce the 
importance of wheat as a commodity in the speculative markets 
of the Avorld, perhaps to the extent of finally eliminating it 
entirely. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THE MILLING OF WHEAT 

Methods of Milling. — ''The first miller plucked the berry from 
the stalk, and using his teeth for millstones, ground grist for 
a customer who would not be denied — his stomach." All mill- 
ers who have succeeded this first pioneer have made use of va- 
rious forms of apparatus to make the grinding process easier 
and more effective. There have been three distinct types of 
mills from which all others are only vai'iations, and each one 
of which effects the reduction of the grain by a method peculiar 
to itself: (1) The mortar and pestle type, in which the work 
is done by grinding and rubbing; (2) some form of the machine 
having two roughened surfaces, between which the grain is 
crushed or cut through the motion of one, and sometimes of 
both, of the surfaces; (3) the roller system of milling, involving 
a gradual reduction or granulation process in which the grain of 
wheat is separated into particles and reduced to successive de- 
grees of subdivision by being passed between rolls, first cor- 
rugated and then smooth, each successive series of which has 
an increased approximation of surfaces. 

The Mortar and Pestle Type. — The second miller was always 
a woman. This initial stage in the development of milling was 
marked by several types of grinding devices. 

Handstones. — Our knowledge of handstones, or ''corn" 
stones, goes back to the paleolithic period. Such stones were 
doubtless first used for pounding nuts 
and acorns. The same type was used 
the world over, and there is an abun- 
dance of specimens. The grain was 
placed upon a second stone with a flat 
surface. Pounding with the globular 

MEXICAN IIANDSTONE ^t«"« <^^f^^ ^ «^P *« be holjowed OUt 

of the lower stone. Withm a few 
feet of each other, 26 such hollows have been found in the rock 
near an Indian settlement at El Paso, Texas. They are found 
in many parts of the world. 

262 




THE MILLING OF WHEAT 



263 




AMERICAN INDIAN" 

CORN MORTAR AND 

PESTLE 



The Mortar and Pestle. — In time, the globular crusher be- 
came oval in form, which was of great advantage when the cups 
became deep. Eventually, it elongated into the pestle. No- 
madic tribes found it advantageous to utilize a portable rock 
for the under stone. Shaped outside as 
well as inside, this became the grain 
mortar. Wooden mortars and pestles 
were now also made in imitation of 
&y '^W^ i ^\ those made of stone. The wooden mor- 

WJ ^l%„...^^ k\ tars were sometimes 2 feet in diameter, 
and the pestles 4 feet in length. The 
first development in the direction of 
grinding instead of pounding was when 
the pestle was ridged at the bottom, 
and the grain was partly jjounded and 
partly grated by giving a rotaiy 
motion to the handle of the pestle or 
pounder. 

The ''Saddle" Stone is another type of primitive milling 
devices. The upper surface of this was made concave, and in 
the hollow thus formed the grain was rubbed or ground by 
another stone, the muller, which was not rolled, but worked 
backward and forward. This was the first real gTinding. Ex- 
perience proved that the upper stone should be ridged. From 
the saddle stone evolved all later forms of milling stones. 

These early forms of the mill have been used throughout the 
world. Babylon, Nineveh, Assyria and Egypt used them, and 
they are found in the prehistoi'ic Swiss lake dwellings. The 
Romans of Virgil's time ground their grain by hand between 
two marble slabs. Many of the early forms of mills have -been 
used in the United States. The settlers of Plymouth, Massa- 
chusetts, used the mortar for a decade or two. In the "hominy 
block" of early Pennsylvania, the bowl was a big block of 
wood burned or dug out. Sometimes it was found inside of the 
cabin, and also served as an article of furniture. At other times 
it was merely a convenient stump in front of the cabin door. 
In the latter case a nearby sapling was often bent over and at- 
tached to the pestle, Avhich it helped raise. Such mills were 
replaced by power mills as soon as population had increased 
sufficiently to make the latter profitable. The Greeks of the 



2G4 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



mortar period made the first recorded milling revolution by 
using' male operatives. These were called "pounders." 

The Quern was the first complete grinding machine in which 
the parts were mechanically combined, and it also introduced 
the circular motion. It was apparently unknown before 200 
B. C, but it was widely used at the dawn of the Chi-istian era, 
and it is often mentioned in the Bible. The first form of the 
lower stone was conical, but the later type was flattened. The 
upper stone conformed to the pattern of its mate. Hollowed out 
in the centre until there was a hole at its base, the upper stone 
also served as a grain hopper. The stone was turned by a 




THE QUERX, ax early FORM OF STONE MILL 

handle inserted in its side. An important improvement was 
made at an early date when the grinding faces of the stone were 
grooved, for the edges facilitated grinding and the grooves 
served as channels through which the meal Avas forced to the 
rim of the stones. This was a rude foreshadowing of the ]irin- 
ciples of methodical furrowing, a process which was not fully 
developed until the era of water mills. The quern was the 
original British flour mill, and it is claimed that it was still 
used in the mountainous parts of Scotland a decade ago. "When 
the quern was large the upper stone had two handles. Women 
did the grinding. In Homer's time, the millers Avere also 
Avomen, and it required the labor of from one-tenth to one- 
sixteenth of the community to prepare flour. Ever since the 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 265 

making of flour became a distinct trade, milling has been es- 
teemed as an honorable occupation. A sturdy and independent 
character was always ascribed to the miller, and he and his mill 
have been a favorite theme with the writers of all ages. 

Slave and Cattle Mills, — For many centuries the greatest 
changes in the milling industry Avere made in the motor power 
rather than in the grinding process itself. The advent of the 
quern and its improvements brought the professional miller, who 
marked the beginning of manorial or village milling. As the 
quern increased in size it ceased to be a hand mill, and power 
was applied. At fii'st slaves, and even criminals, supplied the 
power. A circular piece of wood was placed around their necks, 
so that they were unable to put their hands to the mouth and 
eat of the meal. There were also cattle mills which were similar 
to the slave mills, and for many years in Rome, ''the human ani- 
mals and their brute companions performed the flour-making 
of the Eternal City. ' ' Cattle mills increased in number after 
the abolition of slavery in the fourth century. As early as 
1537, treadmills Avere worked by convicts in Europe. They are 
still found in some countries, and are the sole survivoi's of the 
old Roman slave mills. The slave and cattle mills were 
supposed to have preceded the water mills, but the latter have 
existed in northern and western Europe prior to all historic 
records. They were also found in Greece, and later in Rome. 
Besides the hand querns, the ancient Egyptians had a larger 
quern that was worked by oxen. 

Wind and Water Mills. — In many cases the wind mill ap- 
peared before the water mill. In early England wind was 
utilized to a greater extent than water, and wind mills were in 
existence at least as early as 1191. With the development of 
the mill stone, the grist mill appeared. The miller now ground 
for a larger district, and exacted toll, called "millcorn," from 
the farmers. The mills were generally owned by the lords of 
manors, who farmed them and their appurtenant privileges to 
the millers. The water mill was introduced into England at the 
time of Julius Caesar. In Fi-ance, Italy and elsewhere mention 
of it became common in the fifth centuiy. It was exactly like the 
hand mill, except that water was used for power. Tidal mills 
were worked as early as 1526. The water was impounded at 
high tide, and the mills worked during the ebb. The wind mill 



266 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



seems to have come into use in England about 1200. The first 
milling by steam was in England in 1784. 

The earliest mills in the United States were operated by 
horse power, and the toll was higher than at those where water 




DETAILS OF AN" OLD DUTCH WIND MILL 



or wind power was used. The first mills of the Red river valley 
were operated by oxen, or by wind power. In 1870 there were 
22 flour mills in South Carolina that wei'e operated by horse 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 267 

power. In Texas there were 50, and 17 more were driven by 
oxen, while wind furnished power for five. Many of the prim- 
itive forms of mills can still be found in operation in various 
parts of the world. 

Modern Improvements and Processes. — In the first milling, 
the entire Avheat went into the flour. There was no "bolting" 
or classification of the product by separating it into several 
grades. Usually not even the bran was sepai"ated. The first 
distinctively modern improvements wei'e in the line of bolting 
the flour. The primary sieve was an extended bag which was 
shaken by machinery. Its first introduction was in the power 
mills at the beginning of the sixteenth century. A German 
miller seems to have the credit for bringing forth this reel as a 
flour-dressing device. It was the predecessor of all subsequent 
bolting apparatus and of all appliances for purifying and sepa- 
rating the various grades of flour. 

The old Roman system of cylinder milling, which is similar 
in principle to an ordinary coffee mill, was developed in Hun- 
gary. Elsewhere the system known as "low milling" was more 
common. In this the grain was ground in one process between 
two crushers placed as near together as possible. 

In the United States the flour making industry was early de- 
veloped in Pennsylvania, and in connection with this was given 
the first patent to a citizen of the new world for an inven- 
tion (1715). A Philadelphia woman invented the device, which 
was in its essential portion a series of moi'tars di'iven by me- 
chanical power. In few industries has there been so much 
litigation and controversy as in the manufacture of machinery 
for milling. Many patents for machines with the same object 
in view were taken out almost simultaneously. In the invention 
of all kinds of milling machines, competition has been so brisk 
that it is difficult to determine questions of priority and relative 
efficiency. New York city and Philadelphia had good bolting 
facilities even before 1698, but such facilities did not become 
general until the beginning of the nineteenth century. Oliver 
Evans (Philadelphia, 1756-1819) invented the elevator, con- 
veyor, drill, descender and hopper-bag, from which "dates the 
long period of so-called 'American' milling, which produced 
flour as economically and of as good a grade as that of foreign 
millers." There was little progress from the days of Evans 



268 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

until the introduction of the ''new ' process about 1870. Dnring 
the time of Evans, wheat was cleaned with rolling screens and 
blast fans. About the middle of the nineteenth century smut- 
ters were introduced, and a little later, separators, by means of 
which a more thorough system of wheat cleaning became es- 
tablished. 

"Low" Milling. — Before 1850, the millstones in the United 
States were run at a comparatively low speed, and the grinding 
was slow. By this date the milling industry had assumed such 
commercial importance that it was necessary to increase the 
speed of the stones in order to get the work done. From 1850 
to 1875, hard, low grinding was the rule, and the prime object 
was to make the largest possible percentage of flour at the first 
grinding. The change in process, due to greater speed, in- 
creased the output and improved its quality, "the outcome being 
a white, soft flour that met with favor in all he leading markets 
of the world Avhere American winter wheat flours were han- 
dled." By this process, however, it was impossible to get the 
flour entirely free from contamination, and some of the bran 
always remained. There were two parts to this old process, re- 
ducing the wheat to flonr by passing it through a run of stones, 
and bolting the resulting material in order to separate the flour 
from the bran and other undesirable parts of the kernel. The 
percentage of flour obtained by this single grinding depended 
on four things: (1) The dress of the millstone; (2) the face 
of grinding surface; (3) the balancing of upper or runner 
stones; and (4) the speed of the runner. As there was but one 
grinding, the making of middlings was avoided as much as pos- 
sible. By this method of milling, some of the bran was pul- 
verized so that it could not be separated from the flour. This 
gave the flour a darker color, and caused it to gather more 
moisture, which injured its keeping qualities, especially in moist 
or hot climates. 

"High" Milling was the next step in advance. In this the 
speed of the stones was again decreased, and they were set far 
apart. This advance was made possible by the middlings pui'i- 
fier, which was not invented in the United States much pi'ior 
to 1870, although its principle had long been known and applied 
in Europe. It was a machine for separating the dust, fluffy ma- 
terial, particles of bran, and the flour, from the middlings. It 



THE MILLING OP WHEAT 269 

was now possible to make an excellent and pure flour from 
winter wheat, for the middlings thus purified were reground to 
superfine flour, which brought more per barrel than the best flour 
formerly in the market. As an indication of its superior grade 
it was called ''patent" flour. The ''new" process consisted of 
four parts, for purifying and regrinding the middlings were 
added to the "old" process. In the first operation the wheat 
was "granulated," not ground. These particles, technically 
known as "middlings," were run through the middlings puri- 
fier and then reground. Being of great advantage, the process 
was further developed by introducing more stages. The grain 
was now ground very coarsely and the endeavor was to make 
as little flour as possible at the first grind, and the largest pos- 
sible amount of middlings. 

Ever since the sixteenth century, when good flour began to be 
manufactured at the mills, and bolting had been introduced, 
winter wheat at all times and places had commanded a larger 
price than spring wheat. Spring wheat flour was usually of a 
dark and inferior grade, valued considerably below winter wheat 
flour. With the opening of the wheat regions of north central 
United States, however, spring wheat was produced in enormous 
quantities, even at the lower price which was paid for it, and 
there was great need of an improved pi'ocess of milling which 
would produce a high grade of flour from spring wheat. Spi'ing 
wheat proved to be better suited to grinding by the continually 
improving process of high milling than winter wheat, for being 
harder, it yielded a greater percentage of middlings. This had 
been its great disadvantage under the old processes of milling, 
where the purpose was to get flour at the first gi-inding, and not 
middlings. All unpurified middlings are foul, and when re- 
ground they produced a low grade of flour. When the purifier 
remedied this difiiculty, the best grade of flour was that made 
from the middlings, and almost at a single bound spring wheat 
took front rank as a flour producer. The winter wheat flour 
now became second grade instead of being the best. 

Roller Milling. — The hard quality of spring wheat and the 
increasing number of "breaks, " or stages in the milling process, 
necessitated new improvements. Rolls made of porcelain or of 
chilled iron were now devised to take the place of the time- 
honored millstone. The "new" pi-ocess of high milling was 



270 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

first developed in the stone mills of Austria (1820-30). With 
an extension of principles, it became the Hungarian or gradual 
reduction process/ Experiments with roller mills date from 
1820 in Switzerland, and rolls were used in Hunjary in 1874, 
although minor experiments date vaguely back to 1861. These 
Hungarian rolls were 7 inches long, 4^/^ inches in diameter, and 
made from 180 to 200 revolutions per minute. The first com- 
plete roller mill was erected at Budapest, and for years the 
mills of this city produced the leading flour in the world's 
markets. 

In the United States, the principles of the gradual reduction 
process were taken from Hungarian millwrights, and rolls were 
first used in 1878. A complete outfit of roller mill machinery 
was brought to Minneapolis from Hungary, and Americanized. 
By 1880 rolls were rapidly coming into use, but it necessitated 
a change of machinery, and the change was stubbornly fought 
by the conservative old burr millers of this country. The 
spring wheat interests were large, however, and it seemed a use- 
less fight. The thousands of small country millers held out 
longest, for the expense of the change boi-e most heavily upon 
them. Tlie larger millers very successfully adopted the new 
process with all its intricate mechanical details. ''Patent" 
fiour had been fully recognized and established in commercial 
circles some time before 1876. Spring wheat brought 6 cents 
a bushel more in the market by 1882 than any other sort. Win- 
ter Avheat formerly sold at from 5 to 30 cents a bushel more 
than spring wheat. 

The Process of Milling wheat by the gradual reduction 
methods in the early eighties was quite complex. The grain was 
first passed through separators until it was perfectly free from 
foreign matter. It was then conveyed to ending stones, made 
of sandstone slightly harder than that, used for buildings, and 
having the shape and size of ordinary millstones. These re- 
moved the "whisker" and fuzz from the Avheat, after which it 
went to the brush machine — always by machinery. Here the 
clinging dust Avas removed, and then it passed through a series 
of five break rollers, each successive pair being set a little 
nearer together than the last. The flour and middlings were 
1 Smith, Hist, of Milling, Northwestern Miller, March 20, 1907. 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 271 

removed between each breaking. The flour which was thus re- 
moved came from the center of the wheat grain, which is 
softer and first reduced in milling. This flour was so dirty as 
' to be fit for only a low grade. The middlings were purified 
from bran, and then passed to rollers which reduced them. 
By a bolting operation, the coarse particles were now removed, 
and the unreduced portion of the middlings were again purified, 
then reground and rebolted. They passed thi'ough eight such 
operations. The residuum of the last process passed to the 
bran duster, and the refuse from the bran duster was sold as 
'' shorts." The flour from the middlings was the "patent" 
flour. It required several hours for wheat to pass through the 
different processes. The richest part of the endosperm, the 
outside, was to a certain extent lost, being closely attached to 
the tough bran coats, or so contaminated with small pieces of 
bran as to injure the color of the flour, throwing it into the 
"baker's grade." 

Revolutions seem to be continually taking place in the milling 
industry. After the process of milling had become long and 
complicated, an effort was made to shorten it again, and with 
considerable success. ' ' It was the triumph of the ' short system ' 
over the long system, and resulted in affording every small mill 
owner in the country an opportunity to adopt the roller system 
at an expense that was Avithin his reach." The reform extended 
to Great Britain and the Continent, even affecting Hungarian 
methods and sys^tems. It granted the small country miller a 
new lease of life. 

The Present Processes of Milling. — The milling of wheat has 
become a very scientific and exact business, especially in the 
largest mills.' Prior to the milling of flour comes the selection 
of the wheat to be ground. The grain should be bright-colored 
and plump. Grain which is dark-colored from exposure to 
rains, or from heating in stack or bin, is of an inferior grade, 
for the rising quality of the gluten has been impaired. In se- 
lecting wheat, the miller does not rely upon external appear- 
ances, however, and all wheat is selected by chemical and bak- 
ing tests, which are made before the wheat goes to the mill. 

' For the major portion of the data bearing on this phase of the 
subject the writer is indebted to Messrs. James P. Bell and Frank 
W. Emmons of the Wasliburn-Crosby Company of Minneapolis. 



272 



THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



The daily output of the Minneapolis mills is so enormous that 
every ett'ort is made to maintain uniformity of character and 
quality in the flour. A special expert with several assistants 
is employed for this purpose. He grinds the samples of wheat 
by little mills designed for the work. In the selection of wheat, 
the quality of flour desired must be borne in mind. 




SECTION OF A LARGE MODERN FLOUR MILL 



The mixing of the wheat is another preliminary process. 
This is the most recent and scientific method of keeping the 
different grades of flour uniform from year to year. The prac- 
tice seems to have been adopted in the eighties, and it became 
well estliblished in the United States and Eui'ope during the 



THK MILLING OF WHEAT 273 

early nineties. The mixing is done by means of the elevator 
machinery. Each mill generally has its own elevators for stor- 
ing the grain. Different bins receive the different grades of 
wheat from the cars. The mixing and other manipulation of 
grain may take place in the elevators, or by a separate system 
of machinery in the mill proper. The quality of wheat varies 
so much with climate and season that it is practically impos- 
sible to prevent corresponding variations in flour without mix- 
ing. In our country much winter wheat is grown, and the best 
grade of flour can be made from it only by mixing it with the 
hard spring wheat. The spring wheats bear a higher and more 
uniform percentage of gluten, and herein lies their great value 
for mixing purposes. It is also claimed that spring wheat flour 
is more regular in the time required to mature in the bread 
dough. These are the reasons why spring Avheat brings a 
higher price in the markets. 

Three Fundamental Processes are passed tlirough by the grain 
in the milling: (1) Cleaning; (2) tempering; and (3) grinding 
or milling proper. 

Cleaning. — In this three objects are held in view: The re- 
moval of foreign seeds from the grain; the securing of clean 
wheat berries that are fi'ee from dust and other adherent for- 
eign matter; and the removal of small particles of bran which 
w'ould drop off afterwards and find their way into the flour. A 
special machine has been designed for the removal of each kind 
of foreign seed, such as that of other grain and of weeds. In 
the main, two different methods are used in the removing from 
the wheat berry all undesirable matter adhering or attached to 
it. In each method, machines adapted to the purpose are 
utilized. One method is known as dry cleaning, in which the 
wheat is passed through scourers. In the other method, the 
wheat is washed with Avater and subsequently dried. Each 
method has its advantages for different conditions of the grain, 
but some millers wash all wheat. 

Tempering consists of putting wheat in the best of condition 
for milling. The coats of the berry must be so tough that the 
bran flakes out in one large piece in the grinding, and the in- 
terior of the grain must be in such condition as to give the 
largest yield of flour. There are nearly as many methods of 
tempering as there are mills, for each miller uses a process that 



274 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

will yioid the results which he desires in the final milling. 
Heating the wheat to a certain temperature is a part of the 
tempering' process, and moisture in some form is always applied. 
This may be accomplished by one or more applications of water, 
of steam, or of both water and steam. 

Milling Proper. — The wheat is passed between corrugated 
steel rolls, each of which moves at a different speed from its 
mate. The berry is not crushed, but ruptured and flattened 
out, so that its interior can be separated from the bran coats 
in the largest pieces possible. As much of the interior as is 
thus separated from the bran coats is sifted out, and the resi- 
due is again passed through steel rolls so that more of the 
interior may be separated. This is what is meant by gradual 
reduction. 

The interior of the berry which has been separated from the 
branny portion is known as "middlings." This material is 
now passed through the middlings purifier, which removes any 
particles of bran that may be present, the cellulose structural 
material of the interior of the berry, and the germ of the grain. 
The latter would give the flour a yellow appearance, and im- 
pair its keeping qualities. After the middlings have been puri- 
fied, they are reground, and again purified. These processes are 
repeated until the material is of such fineness that it will pass 
through the finest silk bolting cloth. The material is tested at 
every stage of the process, and finally the finished flour is again 
tested before it is shipped to the trade. An expert can deter- 
mine its quality largely by feel and color. Only the largest mills 
have facilities for making chemical tests. The smaller millers 
frequently have their products tested at chemical laboratories. 

The Bleaching of Flour is a process of recent origin, and 
there has been considerable controversy as to its merits. The 
most common method employed is to pass air through an elec- 
tric discharge of high voltage and low amperage. This results 
in the formation of oxide of nitrogen. The treated air is piped 
to an agitator or spraying machine, through which the flour is 
passing in a thin running stream. The latter operation requires 
from 7 to 10 seconds, and during this time the flour is aged and 
whitened. It is claimed that the only effect upon the flour is 
the decolorization of its oil. Bleaching gives whiteness only, 
and it does not enable the miller to increase the amount of llour, 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 275 

nor to change lower grades into higher ones.' Of the many 
processes for bleaching, the only ones having any indnstrial 
value seem to be "based on the use of peroxide of nitrogen, pre- 
pared either by chemical action or by the action of a flaming 
arc upon atmospheric air."" Flour naturally grows whiter as it 
grows older. 

The Dust Collector. — The milling of wheat always produces 
flour dust. The ignition of these particles suspended in the air 
caused disastrous explosions in the Minneapolis mills during 
1877-78. This led to the development of the dust collector, the 
first form of which was a filtering diaphragm. Its essential 
principle is now the vortical or rotary air current, which masses 
and precipitates smaller particles than the finest filter could 
arrest. 

The Grades of Flour most usually made are four in number: 
(1) Patent; (2) first class; (3) second class; and (4) red dog. 
The feeds comprise the remainder of the milled product. The 
basis of flour grading is mainly its purity, that is, its freedom 
from the bran and germ portions of the wheat kernel. The ] 
best flour comes from the center of the grain. The strongest i 
gluten is nearest to the outside of the kernel, but the outside 1 
can never be perfectly separated from the bran. The degree 
of purity varies with the different processes of milling. The 
equipment of the miller, his special process of milling, and the 
market to which his products go determine the number of 
gi'ades of flour that he makes. He may omit some of these four 
grades, or he may further separate them and make a larger 
number of grades. Patent flour, for example, may be separated 
into first and second patent. The requirements of some buyers 
are for a flour that is sharper or more granular, while those of 
other buyers are for a flour with fine soft granulations and very 
white color. After all of the flours have been collected from 
the various machines into their respective grades, they are con- 
veyed to the packing bins, from the bottom of which they are 
drawn by automatic powder packers into packages varying in 
weight from 2 to 280 pounds. 

1 Letters, Frank W. Emmons, Washburn-Crosby Co., and John 
B. Mitchell, Alsop Process Co. 

2 Sci. Am., S. 61:25263 (1906). 



276 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

The Large Typical Mill of the Winter Wheat Belt.'— A mill- 
ing plant of five buildings and six grain storage tanivs or silos, 
having a storage capacity of 300,000 bushels and a daily mill- 
ing capacity of 1,500 barrels, involves a capital investment of 
about $200,000. The buildings include: The mill, 88 by 42 
feet, and five stories high ; the warehouse, 98 by 42 feet, and 
three stories high; the power house, 68 by 72 feet, and 25 feet 
high, with a tile smoke stack 125 feet high; and the grain ele- 
vator, 48 by 42 feet, and 118 feet high. The steel tanks or 
silos for storing the grain are each 30 by 60 feet. All of these 
tanks are connected at the top with a gallery for delivering 
the grain, and at the bottom with a conveyor belt for discharg- 
ing the grain. Four thousand bushels of gTain can be received 
and discharged per hour. It is moved from car to elevator and 
conveyors by means of steam shovels. The number of men re- 
quired when the mill is running day and night consists of 3 of- 
ficials, 5 office employees, and 35 other employees. 

When the grain is received in the mill, it is given one cleaning 
over ordinary separators, and then stored. Before grinding, it 
is given such additional sejiarations as may be required. It 
takes about one hour to complete the milling. The finished 
product is either loaded into cars or stored in the warehouse, 
and it is disposed of to the local and foreign trade. The aver- 
age amount of wheat carried is about 200,000 bushels, and the 
probable average amount of flour on hand is about 10,000 
barrels. Mills located at interior country points depend largely 
for their supply of wheat upon the deliveries of farmers and of 
country grain merchants in contiguous territory. About 5 per 
cent of the capital invested is devoted to products other than 
those of wheat. About $25,000 of cash must be ready for im- 
mediate requirements. Five to 10 per cent of the business is 
done on credit. The average expenditure for salaries and 
wages amounts to about $45,000 per year. Approximately 5 
per cent of the original cost is annually charged to the de- 
preciation of plant and equipment. 

One of the largest mills in the world is the "A" mill 
of the Pillsbury- Washburn company of Minneapolis. The ordi- 
nary capacity of this mill is 15,000 barrels of flour per day, but 

^ These data are furnished by the Kansas Milling Compaijy, 
Wichita, Kansas. 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 277 

15,500 barrels have been ground. The company is now expend- 
ing $500,000 in enlarging the plant so that it will have a capa- 
city of 17,000 barrels. The maximum milling capacity of the 
Minneapolis mills aggregates a total of 82,765 barrels daily, and 
this is to be increased to over 90,000 barrels before the close 
of 1907. The great progress of the industry is best understood 
Avhen it is remembered that the first crude mill of the ancients 
could not produce over 3 bushels of partly ground meal in one 
day. Later, the Greeks ground from 5 to 10 bushels of meal 
per day. 

The Flour Yield of Wheat. — Soft wheat weighing 64 pounds 
per bushel has been found to yield about 80 per cent of flour, 
while that weighing 54 pounds yields about 65 per cent. The 
heaviest hard wheat yields about 74 per cent of flour, while the 
lightest yields 67 per cent. McDougall found that India wheat 
yielded from 77 to 81 per cent of flour, English wheat 65 per 
cent and American Avheat 72 per cent. The flour yield will, of 
course, vary from season to season, for it is dependent upon the 
quality of the wheat. In 1905, it required 4 5-6 bushels of 
wheat to make a bai'rel of flour in Minneapolis, while in previous 
years it required only 4 1-3 bushels. According to a miller in 
Kent, England, 4.2 bushels of wheat made a barrel of flour in 
1876. Two centuries ago in New England, it required between 
6 and 7 bushels. There has been a continual increase in the 
amount of the highest grade of flour obtained. 

Toll. — The first toll dish was the hand of the miller. In 
England in 1300, the toll was one-twentieth of the wheat ground. 
During the middle of the seventeenth century, the miller's toll 
in New England was one-sixteenth of the wheat ground. Of 
the thirteen original colonies, all but New York and Pennsyl- 
vania had laws for regulating tolls, which varied from one- 
fourth to one-sixteenth. The amount of labor required to grind 
a barrel of fiour at the close of the seventeenth century, if 
expended at the close of the nineteenth century, had a market 
value approximately equal to the cost of grinding a barrel of 
fiour in the latter period. In 1891, the legal toll in Minnesota 
was one-eighth. Measured in wheat, this is twice the toll which 
the miller received in New England 200 years ago. In the 
cities and large towns, however, where wheat was exchanged 
for flour on a cash basis, the cost of a barrel of flour would 




278 



THK MILLING OF WHEAT 2/9 

purchase enough of No. 1 hard wheat to make 1.5 barrels of 
flour. In some places in Minnesota only one-eighth, the legal 
toll, was taken, and the amount taken varied from this to one- 
third at Minneapolis. It Avas stated that 700 years ago the 
English miller with his small toll made several times the profit 
that the Minneapolis mills made in 1891. 

Geographical Location and Extent of Milling Industry. — The 
first development of the milling industry in the United States 
was in New York and in Pennsylvania. These states exported 
flour to the other colonies and to the West Indies. They long 
held first rank, and still mill laige quantities of wheat, having 
held fifth and seventh places respectively among the flour pro- 
ducing states of our country in 1900. In the number of es- 
tablishments and the amount of capital invested, they have 
always held first rank, at least until after the early nineties. Vir- 
ginia, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Michigan later as- 
sumed importance as milling states. Thirty years ago, the flours 
most sought after in the home and foreign markets were those 
of St. Louis and the south. St. Louis was th3n much the 
largest flour-making center of the United States. The im- 
provements in milling processes changed the whole situation, 
for the best flour was now made from spring wheat. In the 
great rush to obtain Minnesota flours, St. Louis and southern 
flours were for the time forgotten. The first Minnesota mill 
was erected in 1823. The development of the milling industry 
in Minneapolis was most remarkable and rapid, chiefly by rea- 
son of the cheap water power obtainable from the falls of the 
Mississippi river. Other factors were the nearness of the 
wheat fields and the subsequent improvements in the art of 
milling. Before 1860, the annual output of the Minneapolis 
mills was about 60,000 barrels. This increased to 98,000 barrels 
in 1865, 193,000 in 1870, 585,000 in 1873, and over 1,000,000 in 
1876. A conflagration then impeded the industry by destroying 
many mills, and it was not until 1879 that the output again ex- 
ceeded a million barrels. By ihe end of the century, the aver- 
age annual output was approximately 15,000,000 barrels. 

As the milling industry developed, it moved toward the wheat 
fields. From 1877 to 1888, the receipts of flour at Buffalo were 
22 per cent of the receipts of both wheat and flour, while from 
1889 to 1898 they Avere 42 per cent. As the freight rates per 



280 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



hundred pounds were about the same for grain and flour, it 
Avas comparatively less expensive to ship flour than wheat, for 
an equal weight of flour had the greater value. This Avas 
true in both the domestic and foreign trade. On the other 
hand, it has been maintained that transportation companies can 
ship and handle wheat more easily and cheaply than flour, and 
that consequently there is a tendency for foreign countries to 
buy our Avheat and manufacture it into flour themselves. 
Chicago annually grinds between four and five million bushels 
of Avheat, which is about one-seventh of its total receipts. 

The rank as to production of flour in 1900 of the twelve chief 
flour-producing states of the United States was, in decreasing 
order of importance: Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, New 
York, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan, 
Tennessee and Kentucky. In portions of the south, it is 
thought that wheat growing would become more jirofitable and 
would increase, if local flour mills Avere established. There 
are some roller mills in northAvestern Georgia, and even in 
central Georgia, but an increase in milling capacity Avould in- 
crease the demand for Avheat. 

In the table below is shoAvn the flour milling industry in the 
United States as given by the last census. The most rapid in- 
crease in the number of establishments Avas from 1860 to 
1870. From 1880 to 1890 there Avas a decrease in the num- 
ber of establishments on account of combinations. From 1890 
to 1900 there Avas again a remarkable increase. The annual 
milling capacity of the United States is over one billion barrels. 



(All figures are in round millions, except the number of 
establishments,) 



No. of establishments 

Capital invested 

Salaries paid 

Total wages 

Cost of materials used 
Value of products 



11 891 
54 



6 
113 
136 



13 868 

85 



9 
208 
249 



1870 



22 573 
152 



15 
367 
445 



24 338 
177 



17 
442 
505 



1900 



18,870i 25,258 

208 219 

9 5 

181 18 

434' 476 

513: 561 



Milling in Foreign Countries. — Excepting for the United 
States, Hungary leads the Avorld in the manufacture of 



THE MILLING OF WHEAT 281 

flour. Budapest was the star milling city of the world until 
about 1890, when it was eclipsed by Minneapolis. The mills of 
Hungary have the best equipment obtainable, and the wheat is 
carefully graded for milling. Hungarian flour of the first qual- 
ity commands a higher price in the English market than the 
best Minneapolis flour. Sometimes it sells as much as a dollar 
per barrel higher than any other flour. The reason for this lies 
not so much in a superior process of manufacture, as in the 
fact that this flour is the product of the very best wheat ob- 
tained by the close system of grading. American millers find it 
mox'e profitable to make more flour of a slightly lower grade. It 
may be that the difference in price is also partly accounted 
for by English prejudice. 

The first roller mills of Great Britain, dating from 
1878, were said to be unsuccessful. It was not until the 
middle eighties that a respectable body of roller millers had 
sprung up. It is estimated that they numbered 400 to 500 in 
1891. Two years later there were 664 complete roller plants, 
while at the present time 900 is the estimate. These mills have 
a daily capacity of about 247,000 barrels of floui', and a yearly 
capacity of 61,715,000 barrels. This is over ten million ban-els 
more than is annually consumed in the Kingdom, and takes no 
account of the millstone flour production. In 1878 there were 
10,000 millstone flour mills in Great Britain. Pei'haps 6,000 or 
7,000 of these still exist, but few of them gi'ind wheat. There 
has been active competition between Amex'ican and British mill- 
ing interests for the milling of the Kingdom, with the advantage 
slightly on the British side on account of the freight discrimi- 
nations between wheat and flour. The flour mills ai'e now being 
built at the quayside instead of inland, as formerly. Liverpool 
is one of the largest milling eentei's of the world. 

The modei'n roller system has been in operation in Russia 
nearly 30 years. The work of the mills along the Volga and in 
south Russia compares very favorably with that of mills in the 
United States or Hungary. Dampening the wheat is an im- 
portant part of the milling process, for most of the grain is ex- 
tremely dry, and their softer red wheats are fully as hard as 
our hard spring wheat from the Red river vally. The flour is of 
a golden color and highly nutritious. Their product seldom 



282 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

reaches the world's markets. After tbey become accustomed to 
it, most persons prefer it to any other. 

Argentine wheat growing began to develop in 1880, and be- 
fore 1895 over 300 mills had been built, an increase of nearly 
100 per cent. The milling industry was so overdone that many 
mills went to ruin. In 1901, the annual producing capacity 
of the Argentine mills was stated at over 13,000,000 barrels, 
but the exportation and internal consumption did not equal 
half of this amount. It is especially the large mills of the in- 
terior that have had little to do. High taxes were a great dis- 
advantage. New mills were, however, erected in the ports in 
1903. These mills were equipped with the most modern ma- 
chinery, and turn out an excellent product. The flour yield 
averages about 66 per cent. There is little home demand for 
by-products, and they are disposed of chiefly by exportation. 
It requires great economy to make milling profitable, and the 
industry will very probably be confined to the chief river and 
ocean ports, and to the small and comparatively unimportant 
local gristmills. On the whole, milling in Argentina is pro- 
gressing slowly, and in other South American countries it is 
only local. 

American competition crippled the Dutch mills in Holland, 
but they are regaining their trade on account of freight dis- 
criminations. In 1902, The Netherlands ranked second in im- 
portance as a market for American flour, Great Britain being 
first. Tariffs drove American flour out of Belgium, but Bel- 
gium millers suffer from ruinous competition among them- 
selves. In Canada, mill-building is active, and both foreign 
and domestic trade is carried on. During 1903 flour-milling in 
New Zealand and Australia was temporarily at a standstill on 
account of crop failures, but it is usually an important in- 
dustry. Progress in New Zealand seems to have been slow in 
this industry during the last few years, apparently on account 
of over-capitalization and over-production. The Chinese and 
Japanese have erected some flour mills, and they are ambitious 
to do their own milling, but success in this is no*^ yet assured. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT. 

The Whole Wheat was used by tlie ancients for food. Pliny 
describes ''amylum, " a food prepared from unground wheat, 
which was first soaked, and then hardened into cakes in the 
sun. At an early date in England whole wheat, known as 
"frumity, " was used as food. Here the grain was also soaked, 
and then boiled with milk and sweetened. Ordinarily wheat is 
no longer used as human food without first being ground or 
crushed. Whei'e mills are wanting, as is sometimes the case in 
frontier and in savage life, the grain is often simply parched 
or boiled. The Arabs, for example, have a dish known as 
"kouskous," wliich is made by boiling fermented wheat. 

The Uses of Different Flours. — When wheat is ground by the 
modern processes many different grades of flour result, not 
only from different kinds and grades of wheat, but also from 
the same grade or variety. Over 50 direct milling products may 
result from grinding one grade of wheat. These products 
differ so in quality that many of them ai'e each most suitable 
for a certain purpose of consumption. What is true of one 
grade or variety of wheat in this respect is true also of differ- 
ent grades and kinds of wheat, and the products differ more 
widely yet. 

Hard-Wheat Flour. — Hard wheat, of which the spring wheat 
of the Red river valley and the Turkey red wheat of Kansas are 
excellent examples, produces the flour that stands for the 
world's white-loaf bread, or "light bread." This flour is inch 
in gluten, which readily absorbs a considerable quantity of 
water. As gluten becomes wet, it swells to several times its 
dry bulk, and it grows elastic and tenacious. Gluten is the 
nitrogenous or tissue-building part of the wheat, and it sup- 
]ilies the same important food elements as are furnished by lean 
meat and the casein of milk. 

Soft-Wheat Flour. — The flour made from soft wheat is the 
best flour for crackers (English "biscuits"), cake, pastry, and 
the hot 'soda biscuits" so common in the southern portion of 

283 



284 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

the United States. The respective uses of hard and soft-wheat 
flour are well defined and clearly recognized by bakers, millers, 
and wholesale dealers. Soft-wheat flour has more starch and 
less gluten than hard-wheat flour. It makes a whiter, and, in 
a certain popular estimation, a more attractive loaf, but it is 
less nutritious, and has a poorer flavor. Tenacity of gluten, so 
essential for good bread, becomes undesirable "toughness" in 
pastry and cake. In pastry, porosity is rendered unnecessary 
by "shortening," and In cake it is obtained with greater deli- 
cacy by adding the beaten albumen of eggs. Soft-wheat floui', 
having less gluten, is most suitable for these products. The 
thinly rolled and thoroughly baked cracker has the best color, 
texture and crisjjness when made from soft-wheat flour. Pas- 
try and cake in some of their many varied forms are so univer- 
sally a part of the daily diet of America and Europe that soft- 
wheat flour ^^ sometimes designated in the markets as "pastry" 
flour. 

Durum-Wheat Flour. — The flour from durum wheats has 
hitherto been used chiefly in the manufacture of macai'oni and 
similar products. Its special fitness for this is its high gluten 
content. Bread made from this flour has a fine flavor, but a 
dark color. Because of the latter fact, and because of the 
fact that durum wheat requires special milling processes, there 
has been a prejudice against it as a bread wheat. With the 
great increase in the production of durum wheats in the United 
States, these difficulties are being removed, and it is very 
probable that its use for bread-making will greatly increase. 
It has long "been used as a bread wheat in parts of Russia and 
France. 

Graham' Flour contains the whole grain, and is made by 
cleaning the wheat and grinding it to a moderate degree of 
fineness. Soft wheat is the most suitable for making this 
flour, which, however, is used chiefly for bread. 

Entire-Wheat Flour is prepared by a process similar to that 
used in milling graham flour, only that between the cleaning 
and grinding it is run through a machine which removes the 
three outer layers of the beiTy. This leaves the cerealin in 
the flour, but removes the bran. This also is a bread flour. 

1 So caJled from Graham, a temperance reformer of a century 
ago. who advocated bread made from unbolted meal as an aid in 
curing alcoholism. 



THE CONSUMPTION OP WHEAT 285 

Self-Raising Flour is produced by mixing leavening agents 
with flour, such as form the essential constituents of ordinary 
baking powder. The addition of water liberates the carbon 
dioxide, and a spongy dough results. Self-raising fiour has had 
little commercial importance. 

The Comparative Value of Different Flours. — The nourish- 
ment that can be obtained from flour depends upon its chemical 
composition and digestibility. Of the different flours that can 
be made from the same lot of wheat, graham flour contains the 
greatest proportion of protein and phosphates. Experiments 
have shown, however, that patent flour has the greatest amount 
of available or digestible protein and other food elements. More 
phosphates are present in white bread than are needed or ab- 
sorbed by the body. The lower digestibility of graham flour 
is due to the bran, both because of its resistance to digestion, 
and because of its physiological action. The lower grades of 
flour, although not of such a fine white color, are yet highly 
nutritious, and yield a bread that is quite thoroughly digested. 
Since niti'ogenous foods are proportionately more expensive 
than starchy foods, and since wheat is cheaper than lean meat, 
all Avheat products are economical food, and those containing a 
high percentage of gluten are especially so. 

Commercial Brands or Grades of Flour. — To a greater or less 
extent each miller manufactures a flour that, on account of the 
closeness of grinding, the proportions of the different kinds of 
wheat, or for other causes, is peculiar to bis mill. His flour is 
branded, and a trade arises for his particular brand. As he has 
a monopoly of this brand, his business is largely non-competitive. 
"While the brands of flour reduce competition for the Avholesaler, 
they increase competition for the retailer, who must meet in 
the brands that he handles the prices of all other brands. The 
wholesale baking trade generally demands a sharp granular 
flour with a great capacity for absorbing water, whereas the 
household trade requires a finer gi'anulation and a whiter color. 
The foreign ti'ade prefers a strong granular flour with little re- 
gard to color, for the flour bleaches during the time consumed 
in transportation. In some of the larger markets, authorized 
flour inspectors stamp the packages with a brand which indi- 
cates the date of the inspection, the weight of the package, and 



28G THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

the condition and quality of the flour. In St. Louis the stand- 
ard grades are, in descending order of quality and whiteness, 
Patent, Extra Fancy, Fancy, Choice and Family. Besides 
improving in color, flour also yields a larger loaf as it 
grows older. When properly stored, the only loss is in the 
power of absorbing water. Flour readily absorbs undesirable 
odors, such as those of pine wood, kerosene, and smoked meats. 

Human Foods Made from Wheat. — Not only does wheat have 
great superiority iu sustaining life, but a large variety of 
healthful, palatable and attractive foods are made from it, 
either wholly or in part. Breads, pastries, crackers, break- 
fast foods and macaroni, of almost endless variety in composi- 
tion, form and appearance are now found on table and market. 
Many of these have a comparatively recent origin, while others 
of a more remote oi'igin have come into general use only in 
recent times. Wheat foods alone do not furnish proper nutri- 
tion for the body, for an amount sufficient to supply the 
requisite protein would furnish more than the requisite car- 
bohydrates. 

Bread is the oldest and most important product made from 
wheat. It supports life better than any other single food ex- 
cept milk, and it is the most staple food of modern civilization. 
The baking of bread is older than history. The prehistoric 
Swiss Lake Dwellers baked bi'ead as early as the Stone Age. 
Fi-om the buint specimens that have been disinterred, it was 
found that they did not use meal, but that the grains were 
more or less ci'ushed. The ancient Egyptians carried the art 
of baking to a high perfection. Lippert maintains that the 
baking of leavened bi'ead was practiced longest by the Egyptian 
and Semitic peoples. The Jews, however, still hold one feast 
in memory of the old form of unleavened bread. The bread 
of the Homeric Greeks is supposed to have been a kind of un- 
leavened cake baked in ashes. The ancient Greeks had at 
least 62 varieties of bread. An oven containing 81 loaves of 
bread similar to the bread of modern times was found in 
Pompeii. 

"Strong" and "Weak" Bread Flour.— The higher the 
gluten content of flour, the more water it will absorb in the 
(Idiigli; consequently it will yield more bread, and is known as 
"stronger" flour. Baker's bread is sold according to its 



THE CONSUMPTION OP WHEAT 287 

weight in the dough, and a barrel of hard-wheat flour will 
make several pound loaves more than a barrel of soft-wheat 
flour. The weight of the dough and the size of the baked 
loaf are lai'gely determined by the quantity and quality of the 
gluten. One hundred pounds of flour will make about 160 
pounds of dough and about 140 pounds of bread. The flavor 
of the bread depends to a great extent upon the gluten and 
oil of the flour. These two compounds give the desirable 
*' nutty" character so prominent in hard-wheat bread. 

At the present day, first-class bakers generally use but one 
grade of standard flour for making bread. Every barrel of 
such flour is numbered at the mills where it is made, and if 
the quality should happen to be inferior, a report is made to 
the mill, and from the number of the barrel the mill determines 
the date when the flour was milled, its composition, and 
whether other similar complaints have been made concerning 
the same flour. The difficulty is thus located and remedied. 
Flour of the first-class standard grades costs from 10 to 25 
cents per barrel more than other flours which are often just 
as good, and which are frequently used, although less reliable. 

Yeast. — The making of leavened bread requires the use of 
3'east, a fungous plant. Three forms of yeast have been used in 
making bread: Brewer's yeast, which is that used by brewers 
in malting; Gennan yeast, also called dried or compressed 
3'east, which consists of sporules only, and contains little mois- 
ture and no gas; and patent yeast, which is a thin watery 
liquid prepared from an infusion of malt and hops. 

Mechanical Processes. — The most primitive method of mak- 
ing bread consisted merely in soaking the whole grain in 
water, subjecting it to pressure, and then drying it by natural 
or artificial heat. Perhaps the simplest form of bread and the 
rudest baking of modern times are found in the Australian 
''damper." Dough composed of flour, salt and water is made 
into cakes, which are baked in the dying embers of a wood 
fire. There have been no great modern improvements in ma- 
chinery for making bread. A quarter of a century ago it was 
still made and baked much as it was in ancient Greece. The 
sponge was mixed and the dough kneaded by machinery, but 
as yet there had been failure to make loaves by machinery. 



288 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Except in the fomiatiou of loaves, j^erhaps, there seem to 
have been no marked improvements during the last 25 years. 

The Modern Bakeshop. — The statutes generally require 
bakeshops to be inspected and kept in healthful condition. 
Each baker contracts by the year with a specialist to keep 
insects out of his establishment. The specialist visits the 
place at least once every tiiree months whether insects appear 
or not. He receives a notification if but a single bug appears. 
His work is performed so thoroughly that it is exceptional if 
a bug is seen at all. 

The following description is of a representative, moderately 
large-sized bakeshop which uses from 25 to 60 barrels of flour 
per day, and daily bakes from 7,500 to 20,000 loaves of bread. 
Each day the flour for the next day's baking is sifted. The 
sifter consists of a rotary brush running over a sieve, and it 
sifts the flour as fast as an attendant empties the barrels, 
about one each minute. All machinery is operated by elec- 
tricity. The bakeshop is three stories high, and the sifting is 
done on the third floor. The sifted flour descends to a bin 
under the ceiling of the second floor. Under this bin, and ori 
the second floor, is located the mixer. It has a capacity of four 
barrels of flour. The water, milk, lard, sugar, yeast, malt ex- 
tract and salt are first placed into the mixer, and then the 
flour is added. Two parts of moisture are used to one of flour. 
Compressed yeast is used, and more is required in winter than 
in summer. The arms of the mixer revolve at a comparatively 
slow rate, about once in every two seconds, throwing the dough 
from side to side. The mixing operation requires 30 minutes. 
A large spout extends through the floor to the room below. 
As soon as the dough is in proper condition, the mixer is 
turned over, and the bread descends through" the spout to the 
floor beloAV, into the large bread trough which has been rolled 
under the spout. In this trough it rises about three hours. 
Thus far no hand has touched the bread, but some handwork 
now becomes necessary. Enough dough is weighed for 12 
loaves, which are then cut out at one operation with an air 
pressure machine. After the loaves are cut they ai"e molded 
by being run thi'ough the molding machine, of which the 
capacity is theoretically 60 loaves a minute, but in practice 
only about 40. The loaf is molded or rolled by an endless 



THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 289 

apron underneath, Avhich carries it along in a. rolling motion, 
and by a fixed top-piece, which is lined with sheep's wool in 
order to i^revent sticking. The loaf travels about three feet. 
This is the Corby patent. After molding, the bread is placed 
in pans to rise. The best temperature for this is from 70 
to 75° F. 

The bread is baked in a continuous oven fired by coal. The 
temperature for baking should be from 450 to 550° F., so that 
the interior of the loaf will be at the boiling point, 212° F. 
When baked, the loaves are tipped out of the pans upon racks 
to cool, after which they are ready for sale. It is by varying 
the proportion of ingredients, the quality of the flour, the size 
of the loaf, and the time of rising and baking, that each 
baker produces bread of a quality in accord with his own 
ideas. The amount of bread produced from the same flour 
also depends to a great extent upon such variations. Rolls are 
cut by a special machine, 36 at a time. They are placed to 
rise, after which they are shaped by hand. They rise again, 
and then are baked. There are also special machines for mix- 
ing and cutting cake. 

Kinds of Bread. — Common or leavened bread needs no de- 
scription. Unf ermented or unleavened bread is of two kinds : 
That in which substitutes producing carbonic gas are used in 
place of yeast, and that in which nothing but flour and water, 
and perhaps salt, are used. The fonner, also known as a 
vesiculated bread, is made in three different ways: (1) Car- 
bonic acid is developed within the dough through fermentation 
of the flour; (2) the dough is mixed with water that has been 
previously mixed with carbonic acid; or (3) carbonic acid is 
disengaged from chemicals introduced into the dough. Mary- 
land, or beaten biscuit, is an interesting variety of unleavened 
bread. Air is introduced into the dough by means of folding 
or pounding. These small poi'tions of air expand in the baking, 
making a porous bread. 

The original graham bread was made from graham flour 
without yeast or any of its substitutes. The dough was left 
standing several hours befoi'e baking. It was heavier than 
ordinary yeast bread, but somewhat porous, probably owing to 
fermentation started by bacteria accidentally present in the 



290 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



flour and acquired from the air. It was sweet, and by no 
means unpalatable. It is now baked like common bread. 

Gluten bread is made from strong flour and water. The 
dough is pressed and strained under a stream of water until 
the starch has been worked out, when it is kneaded again and 
baked. It gives a light and elastic loaf which is often pre- 
scribed for diabetic patients. Aerated bread, which has had 
considerable iwpularity in London, is made by a method 
invented in 1856. The water used is charged with carbon 
dioxide gas. Another form of bread that has been made is the 
salt-rising bread. Hot water and cornmeal are mixed into a 
stiff batter, which is left at blood heat until it is fermented. 
The ferments originally present or acquired from the air 
produce fermentation, Avhich leavens the batter. A thick 
sponge is then made from wheat flour and warm milk in which 
a little salt and sugar have been dissolved. This sponge and 
the fermented batter are thoroughly kneaded together and set 
in a warm place for several hours. 

Chemical Changes and Losses in Baking. — Below is given in 
per cents the average composition of white bread and of the 
flour from which it was made. 





Water 


Protein 


Fat 


Carboliydrates 


Ash 


Bre ad 


353 
12.0 


9.2 
11.4 


1.3 
1.0 


53.1 
75.1 


1.1 


Flour - 


0.5 







In mixing the bread, the water was added, the fat was added 
as butter or lard, and the ash was added as salt. The protein 
and carbohydrates which were lost went to nourish the yeast 
plant. This feeds mainly on the sugar in the dough, and in its 
growth gives off alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. The gas and 
the generated steam expand with heat, force their way through 
the dough, and thus lighten it. Yeast also acts as an agency to 
turn starch into sugar. It is the tenacious quality of gluten 
(wanting in other than wheat flours, however nutritive), which 
retains the gas in its tendency to escape. Being elastic, the 
gluten expands, and the bread becomes porous. 

**In bread making the action of the yeast and heat results 
in: (1) The fermentation of the carbohydrates and the pro- 



THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 291 

duction of carbon dioxide and alcohol; (2) the production of 
soluble carbohydrates, as dextrin, from insoluble forms, as 
starch; (3) the production of lactic and other acids; (4) the 
formation of other volatile carbon' compounds; (5) a change 
in the solubility of the proteid compounds; (6) the formation 
of amine and ammonium compounds from soluble proteids and 
(7) the pai'tial oxidation of the fat. In addition to these 
changes there are undoubtedly many others which take place. 
Inasmuch as many of the compounds formed during the 
fermentation process are either gases or are volatile at the 
temperature of baking, appreciable losses of dry matter must 
necessarily take place in bread making. These losses are 
usually considered as amounting to about 2 per cent of the 
flour used. In exceptional eases, as in prolonged fermentation, 
under favorable conditions, the losses may amount to 8 per 
cent or more. " ^ It is claimed that the losses need not exceed 
2 per cent and that they may be reduced to 1.1 per cent. 
Liebig calculated that in Germany the yeast plant consumed 
as much food daily as would supply 400,000 persons with 
bread. 

On account of this consumption of nutritive elements by 
yeasts, and on account of the uncertainty of their working, 
chemical substitutes were sought 50 years ago in the United 
States and Germany. The substitutes for yeast are easily adul- 
terated, they must be prepared with great care in order that 
they may not be inefficient or harmful, and even when suc- 
cessful the bread is usually rather tasteless. As a consequence, 
they have not met with success. Another loss occurs when 
the bread is baked. The carbon dioxide is largely retained in 
the dough, but the alcohol passes off. In 1858 it was esti- 
mated that 300,000 gallons of spirits were lost annually in 
London from baking bread, a loss of over a million dollars. 
Over $95,000 were spent in an effort to devise means to save 
these fumes. It was given up, not on account of failure to 
secure the alcohol, but because the bread baked in the process 
was dry, unpalatable and unsalable. 

In baking, the starch is rendered soluble by the heat, the 
fermenting growth is killed, and the gluten is solidified, so that 
the cavities formed by the cai'bonic gas retain their figure. 
» U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 67, p. 11. 




292 



THK CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 293 

The crust and the crumb of the bread differ physically and 
chemically. This is due to the sudden and intense heat to 
which the crust is subjected. In the crust the starch is rapidly 
decomposed into dextrine and makose, which are caramelized 
by the heat, making the crust darker and sweeter than the 
crumb. When bread grows stale, the moisture passes from 
the damper crumb to the drier crust, and it is supposed that 
the starch undergoes a chemical change. "The whole ques- 
tion of staleness is one about which little has been absolutely 
proved." 

Cost of Baking. — A barrel of flour will make nearly 300 
loaves of bread as ordinarily baked. A 10-cent loaf weighs 
about 11/4 pounds. The consumer thus pays 8 cents a pound 
for bread. A pound of bread can be made from about three- 
quarters pound of flour. At 2 cents per pound for flour, it is 
estimated that the cost of a pound of bread, exclusive of fuel 
and labor, is about 2 cents, which allows a half cent for 
shortening and yeast. While the fuel and labor add mate- 
rially to the cost, these figures verify the statement that all 
the combined operations of raising wheat in Dakota, trans- 
porting it to Minneapolis, grinding it, and shipping the flour 
to Boston or New York cost less than to bake the flour into 
bread and carry it from the bakery to the home. 

Macaroni in its numerous forms is a palatable and nutritious 
food. It is comparatively inexpensive, and is largely replacing 
meat dishes, which are continually becoming more costly. In 
food value and in use in the dietary, macaroni is very similar 
to bread. As a rule, the harder the wheat, that is, the more 
gluten it contains, the better it is suited to the manufacture 
of macaroni. Many Avheats are used, however, which are not 
real macaroni wheats. The true varieties are quite widely 
grown, and have long figured in commerce. Algerian durum 
wheats are exported for this purpose, and form a standard 
type. Not a little macaroni wheat is grown and used in 
South Argentina. The wild goose wheat of Canada, rejected 
as a bread wheat, now finds use as a macaroni wheat, espe- 
cially in France. The Japanese use home-grown wheat. The 
metadine wheat of France is a half-hard wheat that is being 
largely used, but with a mixture of durum wheat. Indian 
and Turkish wheats are often mixed with such wheat as the 



294 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Algerian. Russia grows some of the finest macaroni wheats, 
chiefly known in France as Taganrog, because Taganrog is the 
l^rincipal point of export. Some of the wheats of Italy, the 
native land of macaroni, are second to none. One of the best 
vai'ieties is Saragolla wheat. Even the common bread wheats 
have been quite extensively used, especially in the United 
States. Such wheat, hoAvever, does not produce a high grade 
macaroni, and this is one of the reasons why the quality of 
American macaroni has generally been below that of the 
imported product. Austria has also manufactured a low grade 
product from bread wheats. 

The Macaroni Industry had its birth in Naples, and before 
1875 the Italian product had not yet been equaled in any 
other country. The Neapolitan manufacturers gained their 
fame on account of the excellent quality of the native wheat. 
The cultivation of this has long been neglected. In the main, 
the spread of the macaroni industry seems to have taken place 
during the last quarter of a century. It developed a great 
wheat growing industry in Algeria and Tunis. '' Semolina" 
or "Semoule," the coarse flour from which macaroni is man- 
ufactured, has become an article of commerce beyond mere 
local trade. Not only has the macaroni industry developed 
greatly in France and Italy during recent years, but also 
in the Levant and in many other foreign lands. In 1903 
France produced about 330,000 pounds of pastes per day, one- 
third of which was exported, chiefly to the United States, but 
also to Austria, Gemiany and Belgium. Italian exports go 
principally to the South American nations, and to a limited 
extent to England and the United States. In Japan, macaroni 
is extensively manufactured and consumed. 

In the United States, the macaroni industry began with the 
use of bread wheats. During 1900, it became established on a 
durum wheat basis in North Dakota. From 1896 to 1901, 
about 15 to 20 million pounds of macaroni, vermicelli and 
similar preparations were annually imported by the United 
States. These imports amounted to nearly 30,000,000 pounds 
and were valued at over $1,000,000 during the fiscal year of 
1902-3. The very finest quality of Italian macaroni is rai'ely 
exported to America, because it retains its quality only a 
few months, "while the commonly exported article remains 



THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 295 

good for a year." The high quality of the best Italian 
macaroni is doubtless largely due to the wheat from which 
it is made, but it may also be due to the action of bacteria. 

Process of Manufacture of Macaroni — In the manufacture 
of semolina, the wheat is first cleaned, which includes wash- 
ing by water. Sometimes it is then dried, and moistened a 
second time. The water is considered essential to the cleaning, 
and it also aids in decortication. Special machinery has been 
devised for cleaning and dampening the wheat. It is milled 
in much the same way that soft wheat is ground into flour. 
In the best quality of semolina the resultant product is from 
60 to 65 per cent of semolina, from 12 to 15 per cent of 
flour, and from 18 to 20 per cent of bran. Some of the 
lower grade wheats yield only from 30 to 40 per cent of 
semolina of an inferior quality. The miller's object is to 
get as much semolina and as little flour as possible. A 
special machine known as a ^'Sausseur" is used in grading 
the products. Semolina is not flour, but a much coarser 
product. As a rule, the manufacturers of macaroni do not 
grind their own wheat, but obtain their semolina from millers 
of that product. The semolina must be mixed in order to 
maintain a certain standard, the same as Avheat is mixed 
in order to obtain a uniform flour. The product which goes 
into the macaroni should have from 45 to 50 per cent of 
gluten. 

Before mechanical methods came in vogue, macaroni was 
kneaded by means of a wooden pole, or by piling up the 
dough and treading it out with the feet, after which it was 
rolled with a heavy rolling pin. By having a fire under the 
vessel, it was partially baked Avhile being reduced to tubes 
and strips. ** Modern mechanical methods are simply enlarge- 
ments of the old family process by which the housewife 
mixed flour and water, kneaded the batch, rolled it into 
sheets, cut it into strips and hung it out to dry. In the 
modern factory the semolina is measured into a steel pan 
about 8 feet in diameter, within which travels a stone wheel. 
Water is added, the machine is put in motion, the wheel 
moves slowly around the pan, thus kneading the batch until 
it attains proper consistency. Just ahead of the wheel is 
set a small steel plow, to gather and turn over the mass, 



296 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

SO that it falls under the rim of the approaching wheel, thus 
guaranteeing an even kneading of the whole amount of 
semolina measured out. "^ 

There are also other mechanical methods of mixing the 
dough. A small quantity of saffron is added to give a yellow 
color. After mixing, the dough is placed in a cylinder with 
a perforated bottom, through which the product is forced 
by means of a piston. The strings of paste are cut to the 
proper length as they issue, and are then thrown over reed 
poles to dry. In two hours they will dry sufficiently in sun- 
light, but if the weather is unfavorable longer time is required 
in sheltered terraces. When slightly dry, they are cellared 
in damp underground vaults for at least 12 hours. By this 
time the dough is moist and pliable again, and the poles 
are carried to storehouses which are open on all sides, but 
shaded from above. Here the strings hang from 8 to 20 
days, according to the dryness of the weathei*. This gives 
them a horn-like toughness which prevents breaking from 
rough handling. In winter, the drying rooms are kept at a 
temperature of about 70° F. Thousands of reed poles bend- 
ing under the weight of the yellow strings of macaroni cover 
the housetops, the courtyards, the narrow streets, and the 
hillsides of the little subui-ban towns about Naples. Mats 
spread upon the ground are covered with many kinds of 
short-shaped "pastas." If the holes in the iron plate through 
which the dough is forced are very small, vermicelli is formed. 
A still smaller and finer sort is called fedelini. When the boles 
are lai'ger and have a conical blade inserted, tube macaroni 
is foiTned. Paste rolled thin and cut in various shapes is 
called Italian paste. 

In producing the various kinds of pastes, there is a very 
slight difference in the amount of water needed. Vermicelli 
requires a little less than any other form. To meet compe- 
tition and changes in public taste, eggs are kneaded Into the 
paste, rice flour, corn flour and potato flour are introduced, 
and the juices of carrots, turnips, cauliflower and cabbage 
are mixed with the paste. So much is mixed Avith the semolina 
that the macaroni consists of wheat to the extent of only 
1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. Plant Indus., Bui. 20, p. 25. 



THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 297 

GO per cent. Our own homely dish of ' ' noodles ' ' can be traced 
back to a macaroni ancestry 

Crackers, Often Called Biscuits {bis euit, twice baked), are 
a variety of unleavened bread. They find their way to almost 
every table in the land. They are usually made from soft 
wheat flour. "Milk, butter, lard, spices, dried fruits — any- 
thing or everything desired to give them particular consistency, 
color or flavor — is mixed with the flour and water." The 
manufacture of crackers is a trade by itself, different from 
oi'dinary baking, and requiring machinery and processes peculiar 
to itself. As early as 1875, crackers were made by a rapid and 
continuous process. Machines mixed the flour and water, 
pressed the dough into a sheet, cut it and even fed the biscuits 
into an oven. A traveling stage carried them through the 
oven. The patent traveling ovens were 30 to 44 feet long, and 
fitted with endless webs of plates or chains. The chains were 
used for small fancy biscuits, and the plates for large and 
plain water biscuits. The rates at which biscuits of different 
sizes and degrees of richness traversed the length of the oven 
in order to bake varied from 5 to 40 minutes, and the tem- 
perature of the oven was modified to suit various qualities. 
Both the heat and rate of motion were ''under easy and ade- 
quate" control.^ Crackers are rarely made in the home. For- 
merly they were placed upon the market in the bul'k, but the 
package form of the trade has increased so greatly that some 
companies are rapidly doing away with the less profitable busi- 
ness of selling crackers in the bulk. About 50 different 
package biscuits are placed upon the market by one com- 
pany. Perhaps the most interesting form of unleavened breads 
is the Passover bread, which has been used during Passover 
week by orthodox Jews from the time of Moses until now. It 
is not unlike the plain water cracker. 

Ready-to-Eat Wheat Foods. — These foods are also known as 
breakfast foods. Their manufacture dates from 1895, and 
seems to be confined to the United States. The pioneer in 
this business was Henry D. Perky, who patented "Shredded 

* In spite of many efforts, the writer was unable to secure any 
considerable data on any phase of the modern cracker industry. 
The business is largely monopolized by a few men not affected by 
the recent wave of publicity. It is rumored that the profits of the 
business are too great to make publicity advisable. 



298 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Wheat Biscuit" in 1895. This product contains every portion 
of the wheat kernel. The whole wheat is cooked without 
being flavored, and then mechanically ground into filaments. 
It is formed into miniature loaves and baked. The distinctive- 
ness of this food has always been retained and has never 
been successfully imitated. It stands in a class by itself and 
is in great favor with American consumers. 

The great development of the breakfast food industry has 
centered at Battle Creek, Michigan. John H. Kellogg patented 
"Cranose Flakes" in 1895, It consisted of the whole wheat, 
which was cooked, slightly flavored with salt, rolled into thin 
flakes, and baked. It was the first flaked wheat food that 
met with considerable sale, Charles W, Post began the man- 
ufacture of ''Grape Nuts" in 1896. This product is made from 
wheat and barley ground together into flour, baked into bread, 
toasted, and finally crushed to granular form. The food is 
distinguished by its hardness, its amber color, and its large 
percentage of dextrine. The products "Malta Vita" and 
"Ready Bits" were the result of experiments conducted at 
Battle Creek in 1898, The former consisted of cleansed whole 
wheat seasoned with salt, and treated with malt exti'act for 
the predigestion of starches before it was finally baked. 
"Force," brought out a few months later, was manufactured 
in a similar manner, "Ready Bits" was not perfected until 
1903. "Its form is distinctive, consisting of readhering par- 
ticles of disintegrated cooked wheat, from which the excess 
starch has been removed by the use of an enzyme." All of 
these three foods attained national distribution. By 1903 at 
least 50 undistinctive brands of ready-to-serve wheat flakes 
were upon the market, and nearly all of them were made from 
whole wheat cooked, salted, rolled and baked. Their merit 
depended upon the quality of the material and the care and 
skill used in their preparation. Their success was pi'oportional 
to the vigor and intelligence with which they were advertised. 
The total annual output of ready-to-serve wheat foods was 
estimated to have a value of $11,000,000. 

In 1903, 18,191 families were visited in a house-to-house 
canvass of the city of New Haven, Connecticut. Seventy-six 
per cent were found to be users of ready-to-eat cereal foods. 
The number of the families of the different nationalities who 



THE CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 



299 



were users and non-users of these cereal foods appears in the 
table below : ^ 



Nationality 


Families Visited 


Users of Cereals 


Non-Users 




10,047 

1,512 

1,874 

955 

174 

20 

3,073 

491 

8 

32 

1 

3 

1 

18,191 


8,697 

912 

1,466 

371 

111 

18 

1,957 

327 

1 

24 







13,884 






600 








584 




63 














Polish 


7 




g 








3 




Total 


4.307 





The analysis ' of some of the leading ready-to-serve wheat 
foods indicates the following average percentages of constitu- 
ent substances: 



Cracked and crushed (average of 

1 1 analyses) 

Flaked (average of 7 analyses)... 
Germ preparations (average of 

10 analyses) 

Gluten preparations (average of 

3 analyses) 

Parched and toasted (average of 

6 analyses) 

Shredded (average of 6 analyses) 
Patent flour, high grade, spring 

wheat 

Patent flour, high grade, winter 

wheat 

Flour, low grade 



Water 


Pro- 
tein 


Fat 


10.1 

K.7 


11.1 

13.4 


1.7 
1.4 


10.4 


10.5 


2.0 


8.9 


13.6 


1.7 


8.6 
8.1 


13.6 
10.5 


2.4 
1.4 


12.3 


11.7 


1.1 


13.3 
12.0 


11.0 
14.0 


.9 
1.9 



Carbo- 
hydrates 
(includ- 
ing crude 
fiber) 


Crude 
fiber 


75.5 
74.3 


(1.7) 
(1.8) 


76.0 


(.9) 


74.6 


(1.3) 


74. S 
77.9 


(.8) 
(1.7) 


74.5 


(.1) 


74.4 
71.2 


(.3) 
(.8) 



Ash 



1.6 
2.2 



1.1 
1.2 



.9 
2.1 



Cereal breakfast foods have been more extensively and in- 
geniously advertised than any other class of foods. Such a be- 
wildering variety is upon the market that it is difficult to make 
an intelligent choice between them. They are very convenient 

> For all of the preceding data concerninar ready-to-serve 
wheat foods, the writer is indebted to Mr Burritt Hamilton, formerly 
President of the Ready Bits Company. 

- U. S. Dept. Agr., Farm Bui. 105, p. 20. 



300 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

for use and give a pleasant variety in food. It is claimed, 
however, that "at the usual prices the nutrients in ready-to- 
eat cereals are considerably dearer than those furnished by 
bread and crackers." Where strict economy is not essential, 
the special convenience and variety is often considered to be 
worth the additional cost. 

During the first few years of the twentieth century, the 
most active competition prevailed between the numerous com- 
panies manufacturing ready-to-serve breakfast foods. Events 
in this business happened with kaleidoscopic rapidity. During 
the years of 1902 and 1903 there was an overproduction of 
cereal foods which caused a pi'otracted glut in the market. 
Many of the younger companies were unable to continue in the 
business, and failed. The survivors are now doing a satisfac- 
tory business, and the making of cereal foods has settled down 
to a staple milling industry. 

The Natural Food Company, the present manufacturer of 
shredded Avheat, has a conservatory overlooking Niagara Falls. 
It is one of the finest food factories in the world. Power is fur- 
nished by electricity from the Falls, and the total cost of the 
building and equipment was $2,000,000. The. united structure 
covers an area of 55,653 square feet. It has 5.5 acres of floor 
space, and a frontage of 900 feet on the upper Niagara Rapids. 
Educational features have been established, and there is an audi- 
torium, seating over 1000, for entertainments, lectures, and 
conventions. Its food has been a great commercial success, and 
is one of the best selling products on the American market to- 
day. Some of its products are also exported. 

Grape Nuts is an unpatented food. The manufacturing com- 
pany relies on its trade marks for protection. By vigorous 
advertising it has created an extensive demand for its goods 
in the United States and in some foreign countries. 

"From 100,000 to 125,000 one-pound packages are put up 
daily, representing a daily consumption of 1,500,000 of por- 
tions. In the manufacture of Postum Food Coffee and Grape 
Nuts, about 2,200 bushels of wheat are consumed daily. These 
two products are mostly used by the English speaking race, but 
are being gradually introduced in all the commercial centers of 
the world. Stocks of both products are carried in all the prom- 
inent cities of the United States, Canada and England. Some 
625 male and female employes find employment throughout dif- 



THK CONSUMPTIOK OF WHEAT 301 

ferent parts of the factory. The capital employed by the Pos- 
tum Cereal Company is $5,000,000. Their expenditure for ad- 
vertising is one million dollars per annum. "^ 

Adulterations. — There are many substances that have been 
used to adulterate and cheapen flour. Among the vegetable 
substances are rye flour, corn and rice meal, potato starch, and 
meals from leguminous plants, such as peas and beans. Among 
the mineral substances are alum, borax, chalk, carbonate of 
magnesia, bone, and various clays. Alum in any form is harm- 
ful and the use of the others is reprehensible, for they often 
make a poor bread seem good. The addition up to 20 per cent 
of cornstarch can be used with high glutinous flours, but it pro- 
duces a much drier loaf, lacking flavor. Terra alba has been 
widely used for adulteration in foreign countries, but at least 
as late as 1894 there was no knowledge of its having been used 
in the United States. Mineraline, one of its forms, was, how- 
ever, subsequently used.' The poorer classes of people some- 
times adulterate the flour themselves. For example, it is said 
that the Scandinavian jieasants at times mix half flour and half 
ground tree bark in their loaf. In the United States, an inter- 
nal-revenue tax was levied on mixed flour by the war-revenue 
act of 1898. It largely stopped the mixing of cornstarch or 
corn flour with wheat flour, a practice that had been fi'equent. 

Wheat Products as Animal Food. — All of the grain of wheat 
which is unlit for flour is generally fed to animals. Wheat 
that finds poor sale for any reason, as for example goose wheat 
and durum wheat in former times, is often fed to stock. 
In times of very low prices, even the bread wheats are exten- 
sively fed. During 1893 over four million bushels, or 16.5 per 
cent of the total wheat crop of Kansas, were fed to farm ani- 
mals. Authorities, however, do not seem to be agreed as to the 
value of wheat for feeding. For certain feeding purposes it 
seems to have advantages over corn and other grains, while for 
other purposes it has disadvantages. It should generally be fed 
with other grains, and its food value is slightly increased by 
grinding. Wheat should not foi'm more than half the grain 
ration. All classes of domestic animals are fond of wheat in 
any form. 

' Letter, Postnm Cereal Co., Ltd. 
~ Industrial Commission, 11:2. 



302 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Growing wheat is often pastured in the fall or spring. At 
times this can be done without injury. On the Pacific coast as 
much as 10 per cent of the wheat is sometimes cut green for 
the purpose of making wheat hay. This practice is often fol- 
lowed in Oregon. After the wheat is threshed the straw is 
often used as fodder in the United States, and also in other 
countries. 

Other Uses of Wheat Straw. — In the time of Fitzherbert 
wheat straw was used in England to thatch houses. In the Old 
World some varieties of wheat are grown solely for making 
hats and other articles of plaited straw. It is also used for 
various other purposes, such as packing merchandise and mak- 
ing mattresses and door-mats. Another great use is in paper 
mills, where it is at times bought at $3 to $4 per ton. Effoi'ts 
have been made in this manner to save some of the straw that 
is going to waste at the rate of millions of tons per year in 
North Dakota. The problem of using wheat straw economic- 
ally is no nearer solution than it was 20 years ago. In the 
Northwest and on the Pacific coast it is often worse than use- 
less, because it must be burned to get it out of the way. 

The Per Capita Consumption of Wheat is not an index to 
the bread consumption of countries where rye bread is used. 
Including the amount requii'ed for seed, the estimated per cap- 
ita consumption in the United States for 1902 to 1904 inclusive 
was G.23 bushels. The following estimate of the per capita 
consumption of wheat in certain countries was presented to 
the British Royal Commission on Supply of Food and Raw 
Matei-ial in Time of War, by Mr. W. S. Patterson of the Liver- 
pool Corn Trade Association. 

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTION OF WHEAT 
I. In Importing Countries 



Bushels 

United Kingdom 5.6 

Germany 3.2 

Belgium 7.2 

France 7.8 

Holland 3.9 

Italy 4.4 



Bushels 

Spain ...5.3 

Portugal 2.3 

Sweden 2.0 

Greece 3.3 

Austria-Hungary 3.6 

Switzerland S.7 



United States 4.7 

Canada 5.5 

Russia 2.6 

Balkan Provinces 4.3 



II. In Exporting Countries 

Bushels Bushels 

India 0.7 

Australia 5.5 

Argentina 4.0 



CHAPTER XVIL 
PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT OF WHEAT 

The United States Wheat Production. — With the develop- 
ment of any agricultui'al community, farming becomes more 
diversified. This tendency is already manifesting itself in the 
great wheat regions of the North Central States, not only in 
the diversification of crops on the smaller farms, but in the 
rotation of crops beginning to be practiced on the larger farms. 
There is also a tendency for even the largest farms to become 
divided into smaller holdings, and this will further increase 
the growing of diversified crops. All this diversification will 
tend to decrease the wheat acreage in the best wheat lands 
of the West. With the development of our whole country, land 
values are certain to rise. This is a factor of the greatest im- 
portance, for it will make certain lands too valuable for the 
production of wheat, while it will sufficiently raise the price of 
other lands now lying idle so that their cultivation will be- 
come profitable. Some wheat will be grown on many eastern 
and southern farms which are not cultivated at present. With 
the development of drought resistant varieties of wheat, the 
wheat acreage in the semi-arid regions of western United 
States will be increased. 

It is probable that all of these developments will result in 
a reverse in the historic westward movement of the center of 
wheat production, and that this center may begin to retrace its 
course and proceed eastward, for it is probable that the de- 
crease of western acreage by diversified farming, and the in- 
crease of eastern and southern acreage resulting from the rais- 
ing of wheat on lands formerly abandoned, will more than 
counterbalance the increased acreage in the semi-arid regions. 
On the whole, it has been concluded by some students of agri- 
cultural statistics that the limit of wheat production in the 
United States has approximately been reached. With the fu- 
ture growth in population, and especially with the further 
development of mining and other non-agricultural industries, 
the home consumption of wheat in the West will be greatly 



304 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



increased. This will have a tendency to diminish wheat ex- 
ports from western United States, and may even divert to the 
West some of the grain from the Central States which is now 

ACREAGE, PRODUCTION, VALUE, AND DISTRIBUTION OF WHEAT OF THE 
UNITED STATES IN 190.3, BY STATES ' 
(In round thousands.) 





Crop of 1905 


Stock in 
farmers' hands 
March 1, 1906 


Ship'd out 
of county 


State or Territory 


Acreage 


Production 


Value 


where 
grown 




Acres 

8 

1 

491 

110 

1,629 

121 

810 

738 

593 

318 

305 

108 

3 

1,249 

198 

882 

356 

780 

1.883 

1,02 7 

1.932 

1,872 

474 

5,446 

964 

2,260 

5,536 

2.4 73 

3,221 

5,402 

119 

29 

254 

43 

15 

178 

27 

367 

1,322 

718 

1,886 

1,435 

270 


Bushels 

181 

27 

10.301 

1,805 

2 7,861 

1,670 

13,197 

8,417 

3,975 

1,942 

2,107 

1,041 

28 

11,118 

1.565 

6.349 

4,373 

8,810 

32,198 

19,003 

35,351 

29,952 

7,893 

72,434 

13.683 

28,022 

7 7,001 

48,003 

44,133 

75,623 

2,843 

748 

6,359 

948 

332 

4,710 

724 

10,342 

32.517 

13,383 

17,542 

11.764 

2,703 


Dollars 

192 

25 

8,859 

1,589 

24 239 

1,369 

10,821 

7,408 

4.055 

2.156 

2,254 

1,051 

27 

9.784 

1,408 

5,777 

3,892 

7,665 

26,402 

15,013 

28,988 

24,261 

5,999 

51.428 

9,715 

22,138 

54.671 

31,682 

29.569 

52,180 

2,019 

539 

4,451 

853 

388 

3,156 

557 

6,785 

21,326 

9,100 

14,384 

8,117 

2,081 


Bushels 

58 

10 

2,472 

397 

10,030 

417 

2.903 

2.273 

1,073 

369 

485 

177 



1,668 

344 

1.206 

1,268 

1,586 

9,015 

5,131 

8,131 

5,691 

2,842 

20,282 

4,242 

5.324 

13,860 

12,961 

11.033 

15,125 

995 

217 

1,526 

227 

56 

1,837 

116 

1 ,86 1 

5,203 

2,409 

1 ,403 

1,882 

297 


Per cent 
32 
35 
24 
22 
36 
25 
22 
27 
27 
19 
23 
17 

15 
22 
19 
29 
18 
28 
27 
23 
19 
36 
28 
31 
19 
18 
27 
25 
20 
35 
29 
24 
24 
17 
39 
16 
18 
lo 
18 
8 
16 
11 


Bushels 










1,442 


New Jersey 


361 

2,786 


Delaware 


785 
8,050 


Virginia 

North Carohna 

South Carohna 


3,115 

199 

19 

63 




10 







Texas 


3,113 




63 




1,968 


West Virginia 


670 
3.083 


Ohio 


16.421 




7,981 




16,615 




13,778 




947 




54,326 




3,421 




12,610 




57,751 




31,202 


South Dakota 

North Dakota 


34,865 

64,280 

768 




52 




3,815 




28 




10 


Utah 


1,178 


Nevada 


14 
6,722 


Washington 


2 5,038 
7,22 7 




10.876 




7,058 


Indian Territory.... 


1.351 


United States 


47,854 


692.979 


518,373 


158,403 


22.9 


404.092 



Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1906. 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



305 



exported by way of Gulf and Atlantic ports. With the in- 
crease of population and local consumption, the internal and 
export movement of wheat will greatly decrease, and Amer- 
ican wheat will be a factor of declining importance in the 
international ffrain trade. 



VISIBLE SUPPLY OF WHEAT IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA, 

FIRST OF EACH MONTH, FOR TEN YEARS ' 

(In round thoiisand.s ) 



EAST OF ROCKY MOUNTAINS 



PACIFIC COAST 



Month 



1896-18971 1905-1906 



1896-1897 



1905-1906 



Bushels 

July 61,354 

August 58,414 

September 57,588 

October 63.955 

November 76,716 

December I 76,433 

January I 73,270 

February I 68 092 

March i 61,664 

April 55.946 

May 49 684 

June 37,975 



Bushels 

20 476 
2 1 ,3 1 4 

21 705 
28,894 
53 745 
62 402 
71,634 
73.151 
70.530 
66.599 
54,856 
40,347 



Bushels 
1,927 
1,917 
3,512 
5.454 
6 883 
6.548 
4.189 
3.005 
1.857 
1.730 
1,614 
1,221 



Bushels 

839 

581 

1,130 

3,156 

4 486 
5.8<)6 

5 511 
5.295 
4 898 
4,947 
3,917 
3,349 



QUANTITY AND PERCENTAGE OF DOMESTIC WHEAT, INCLUDING 
FLOUR, EXPORTED FROM LEADING PORTS FOR EARS ENDING JUNE 

30.1884-1904. ' 





ANNUAL AVERAGE 






Customs 
District 


1884-1888 


1894-1898 


1904 




Bushels 


Per cent 


Bushels 


Per cent 


Bushels 


Per cent 


Atlantic. . 

Gulf 


82.757,000 
2.061.000 

31,865 000 
5.737,000 

122,420.000 


67 6 

1 7 

26 

4.7 

100 


102.780.000 

10,843.000 

36.833.000 

9,118,000 

159,594.000 


64 4 
6 S 

23 I 
5 7 

100.0 


57.361 000 

33 315 000 

22 334.000 

7,717,000 

120,728.000 


47 5 
27.6 
18 5 


AH other 


6 4 


Total exports .... 


100 



1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr.. 1906. 

= U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta . Bui. 38, 1905. 




306 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 307 

A feature of the wheat industry in the United States that 
merits special mention is the increased production of durum 
wheats. These wheats are now widely grown in the semi-arid 
regions where the annual rainfall does not exceed 10 or 12 
inches. In the early years they were a product vei-y difficult 
of profitable sale, but they are now assuming a strong com- 
mercial position. The nature of the grain was not generally 
understood by American millers until it had been on the mar- 
ket for several years. In Russia it is blended with about 25 
per cent of red wheat, and the same practice has been followed 
with some success in the United States. Many mills are now 
grinding the grain. A large portion of the durum wheat grown 
in the United States is exported, chiefly to Marseilles and 
other ports of the Mediterranean sea. About 10,000,000 bushels 
were exported during the year ending June 30, 1906. About 
2,000,000 bushels Avere produced in 1902, 6,000,000 in 1903, 
20,000,000 in 1905, and 50,000,000 bushels in 1906. 

Russian Wheat Production. — Viewed solely from the point 
of view of its natural resources and economic aspects, Russia 
is the United States of Europe. It has immense undeveloped 
areas that would form ideal wheat lands, lands very similar to 
those which constitute the wheat belt of the United States. 
European Russia may be divided into two regions distinct as 
to the nature of their soil by a line running from Bessarabia 
in the southwest to Ufa in the northeast. In the southeast is 
the chernozium (black soil) region, and in the nortliwest the 
non-chernozium region. Clay, sand and rocky soils are all found 
in the non-black soil region, which lacks fertility and is chiefly 
devoted to the production of rye. The black soil zone is an 
arable plain, vast in extent, very fertile in soil, arising through 
centuries from the decomposition of accumulated Steppe 
grasses and sheltered by outlying forests. This plain stretches 
across the empire to the Ural Mountains, extending completely 
over 15 provinces and partially over 12, and even reappearing 
in Siberia. It is one of the largest fertile sections of land on 
the globe. In European Russia, the 18 provinces which lie 
chiefly in the black soil region produce two-thirds of the wheat 
and only one-third of the rye. Of the 328,000,000 acres of 
arable land, 59 per cent, or 193,000,000 acres, is located in the 
black soil region. Of the 197,000,000 acres of cereal crops, 72 



308 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

per cent, or 142,000,000 acres, is found in the chernozium area. 
The black soil is of great uniformity in type and composition, 
varies in depth from a few inches to about 4 feet, and owes its 
dark color to its high proportion of organic substances (4 to 16 
per cent). The Russian Steppes have fully as great a similar- 
ity to the Gi-eat Plains of the United States in climate as in 
soil, although greater extremes prevail. 

The similarity between Russia and the United States in the 
natural resources of the wheat growing regions is quite equaled 
by the dissimilarity in political practice, social theory and eco- 
nomic condition. The Slav does not possess the Anglo-Saxon's 
proud institutional heritage. The Russian proletariat have no 
"Uncle Sam" who is rich enough to provide farms for all. 
There is, indeed, plenty of land, and they do have the Little 
Father, Avho is supposed to exercise a paternal care over his 
people. Sadly lacking in the institutions that are fundamental 
for progress and prosperity, however, the Russian people have 
found the Little Father to be far less capable and generous in 
aiding their material advancement than is essential to its real- 
ization. Consequently they have been unable to rise above 
their ignorance, poverty and misery. A population of exuber- 
ant fertility residing in a land of unlimited natural resources, 
the Russian peasantry have had neither means nor opportunity 
to attain a higher plane of life. The poor system of land owner- 
ship and the antiquated methods of agriculture made Russian 
wheat a dear wheat in spite of cheap labor and a low standard 
of living. The future possibilities of Russian wheat produc- 
tion depend upon the social, economic and educational progress 
of Russia. There are symptoms of improvement in this direc- 
tion. The extension of peasant land ownership is improving 
economic conditions. It seems that political and social condi- 
tions are at last changing and popular education is growing. 
In agriculture, better machinery is being introduced, and crops 
are being rotated. The production of wheat increased 122 per 
cent in European Russia from 1870 to 1904. From 1881 to 
1904 the acreage in Avheat gained 57.3 per cent, while that of 
rye gained only 1.7 per cent, and the ratio between wheat and 
rye changed from 45:100 to 70:100. The yield of wheat per 
acre decreases from west to east. 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



309 



Since the construction of the Great Siberian Railway the 
actual and potential productive powers of Asiatic Russia, and 
especially of Siberia, have been an interesting subject for spec- 
ulation in Europe and America. In the popular conception 
previous to tliis event, Siberia was a land of polar nights and 
eternal snow, the monotony of whose dreary wastes was broken 
only by the clanking chains of Russia's exiles — exiles who were 
not always criminals, but who, according to Occidental ideas, 
frequently represented the very flower of Russian citizenship. 



AREA UNDER WHEAT IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE* 
(In round tliou.sands ) 



Year 



1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 



_ . , European' _ , , iNorthern West 
Total Russia 1 Poland [Caucasia Siberia 



Acres 
42,233 
45,869 
46.733 
47,019 
49.743 
52 313 
54.306 
55,112 
57,221 
59,186 



Acres 

31,894 

34,848 

35,606 

36,008 

38 045 

39,967 

41,921 

42 590 

43 753 
45,635 



Acres 
1,170 
1,198 
1.210 
1.221 
1,305 
1,318 
1,247 
1,301 
1 292 
1.242 



Acres 
5,808 
5.589 
5.589 
5.263 
5,966 
6.228 
6,416 
6,817 
7,189 
7,473 



Acres 
2,594 
2,905 
3.021 
3.377 
3,179 
3,660 
3 537 

2 933 

3 455 
3.352 



Middle 
Asia 



Acres 
767 
1.329 
1 206 
1,150 
1 .248 
1 140 
1 185 
1,471 
1,532 
1,484 



PRODUCTION OF WHEAT AND RYE IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 
(In round tliou.sands.) 





Wheat 




Year 


Total 


European 
Russia 


Poland 


Caucasia 


Siberia 


Middle 
Asia 


Rye 


1895 

1896 


Bushels 
413.341 
412.038 
340.171 
459,289 
454,145 
422,994 
427,781 
607,370 
621.459 
666,752 
636,285 
506,400 
511,000 


Bushels 
292,272 
300.423 
238.557 
334,246 
314,877 
319.193 
319,992 
463 259 
454,598 
519,966 
568.274 
450,900 
455.000 


Bushels 
17,386 
19.477 
17 808 
21.691 
21,545 
19.722 
14.409 

20 349 
19.256 

21 241 
20.239 
19,000 


Bushels 
67,127 
45.148 
29.883 
52.251 
57.313 
56.948 
67 232 
77.069 
77.941 
81,132 
96,708 
73,000 


Bushels 
29.093 
34.160 
42.835 
36 157 
45,473 
20,172 
16 504 
30,796 
48,670 
31.590 
42,411 
35,000 


Bushels 

7 462 

12,830 

11,087 

14 944 

14.938 

6 959 

9,645 

15,897 

20,995 

12,823 


Bushels 
801,413 
789,562 


1897 

1898 

1899 


712,319 
737 501 
911,633 


1900 


920 134 


1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 


754,927 

919 019 

911,944 

1 008 4 10 


1907 









' U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 42, 1906, p. 16. 



310 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

With the completion of the railway, foreign conception nnder- 
went a great change, and Siberia snddenly became the ''fu- 
ture granary of the world. ' ' Subsequent developments have 
not met expectations, for the true Siberia is a mean between 
these conceptions. This enormous country, which is 24 times as 
large as the German Empire, and nearly twice as large as the 
United States proper, has a very rigorous climate, and perhaps 
only half of it is habitable, Avhile a still smaller portion is 
suitable for agriculture. This still leaves an immense area, 
however, upon which the cultivation of wheat is not only pos- 
sible, but probable. Wheat is at present the most imiwrtant 
crop of Siberia. It is exceedingly difficult to foretell the role 
which the Russian Empire is destined to play in the world's 
future Avheat production. The possibilities are tremendous. 
Since, however, they are so largely dependent upon social, 
economic and institutional evolution, it is very improbable that 
Russia will duplicate the rapid development of wheat produc- 
tion which took place in the United States. While the develop- 
ment will be gradual, it is probable that Russian production will 
be one of the great permanent factors in the wheat industry.^ 

India's Wheat Production. — The two factors which enabled 
India to become a large exporter of wheat were the completion 
of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the subsequent develoj^ment of 
the railroads. The former gave an enormous stimulus to 
Avheat cultivation. Wheat thrives best on the dry plains of the 
Punjab and on the plateaus of the central provinces. Agricul- 
tural conditio! s in different parts of India, and meteorological 
conditions in different parts and in different seasons, are so 
diverse that the annual production varies greatly and is ex- 
tremely difficult to predict. India wheat as a factor in the 
world market is made still more uncertain by the fact that 
domestic consumption is unusuallj' susceptible to variations 
resulting from changes in the price that may be obtained in 
the export markets. 

In recent years the annual wheat area in British India has 
been approximately 28,000,000 acres. About one-fourth of this 
is planted in the United Provinces, and about one-fourth in the 
Punjab. Of the remaining wheat area, the Central Provinces 

1 Rubinow, Russia's Wheat Surplus, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of 
Sta., Bui. 42. 1C06. 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



311 



have annually about 3,000,000 acres; Central India and Bom- 
l)ay alidut 2,000,000 acres each; Bengal about 1,500,000 acres; 
and Rajputana, Hyderabad and the Northwest Frontier Prov- 
ince each about 1,000,000 acres. Beror and Sind are the only 
other important wheat-growing provinces, and each has an 
annual area of about 500,000 acres. The wheat is harvested 
during our spring months. The wheat from the Central Prov- 
inces is shipped from Bombay. That of the Punjab is collected 
at Multan and shipped from Karachi. There has also been a 
large export of flour, which is ground at Bombay and other 
centers. 



AREA, PRODUCTION AND EXPORT OF WHEAT IN INDIA, AND THD 

GAZETTE PRIC3 OP BRITISH WHEAT 

(In round millions) 









Exports in following year 


British 


Years 






in bushels 


Gazette 


Endinjj 


Area 


Bushels 






Price of wheat 


March 






per quarter 


31 






Total 


To United 










Kingdom 


S D 


1890 


24,773 


204,100 


23 866 


15,451 


31 11 


1891 


26,576 


229,200 


50,511 


23,110 


37 


1892 


24,482 


184 500 


24,955 


16,543 


30 3 


1893 


26,429 


239,766 


20,261 


12,381 


26 4 


1894 


25,778 


225,700 


11,483 


8,480 


22 10 


1895 


25,994 


209,310 


16 673 


12,893 


23 1 


1896 


23,242 


183,698 


3,185 


2,510 


26 2 


1897 


19,024 


163,095 


3 988 


1,798 


30 2 


1898 


22 954 


222,891 


32 533 


17,790 


34 


1899 


23,923 


211,320 


16,173 


10,915 


25 8 


1900 


17,183 


162,323 


83 


11 


26 11 


1901 


22,922 


225 523 


12,203 


8,131 


26 9 


1902 


23,477 


202,116 


17,153 


14,823 


28 1 


1903 


23,092 


258 870 


43,185 


32,888 


26 9 


1904 


27,773 


312,916 


83.128 






1905 




283,000 


37,477 






1906 




319,600 



















Argentina's Wheat Production. — The wheat industry of Ar- 
gentina is similar to that of Russia in some of its most impoi'- 
tant phases. While the eountiy is of much smaller extent, its 
land, climate and railroad extension are available potentials 
for an enormously expanded wheat production. As in Russia, 
the wheat area cannnot be definitely detennined without years 
of experimentation and a great increase in population. Here, 



312 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

too, there are vast arable plains of great fertility, a fertilitj^ of 
which little is known to the world on account of poor methods 
of farming and on account of the fact that much of the land 
has not been under cultivation. The cattle industry was first 
developed in Argentina, and for many years it completely over- 
shadowed agriculture. Thousands and even hundreds of thou- 
sands of acres were owned by the great cattle kings who had 
no desire to have their land broken up, because they knew 
nothing of its agricultural value. Another controlling factor 
is the dependence of agricultural work vipon immigi'ants and 
their descendants. These immigrants differ greatly in char- 
acter from those found upon the new lands of the United 
States and Canada. The great number of illiterate peddlers, 
laborers, cobblei's, and Avhat-not of Italy, Spain and Russia do 
not become intelligent farmers. They do not endeavor to 
become pei'manent additions to the population by securing own- 
ership of the land which they cultivate. They are chiefly Ital- 
ians having a very low standard of living and little efficiency 
as laborers. Many of them return to Italy within a year after 
their coming. According to the census of 1900, not one farmer 
in three is a renter in the United States, but in Argentina two 
out of every three do not own the land which they till. Two 
systems of renting are in vogue in the latter country, the 
"medianero," or share system, and the "arrendatario," or 
cash system. The government encourages immigration by 
offering free transportation from Europe and by making easy 
the acquisition of land. There are Jewish, Russian, Swiss, Ger- 
man, Austrian, Italian, Spanish and Scandinavian settlements. 
The nvimber of immigrants averages about 100,000 per annum, 
and the number of emigrants at least half this number. Gen- 
erally speaking, the Argentine wheat fanner will submit to life 
conditions that would not be endured in North America, for he 
has been accustomed to hardships in Europe. He is slow in 
understanding what a republic means. Class distinctions be- 
tween rich and poor are shaiply drawn. 

Agricultural methods and conditions are improving, however, 
and Argentina is certain to assume a higher rank as a producer 
of wheat and other cereals. TAventy-flve years ago not enough 
wheat was produced for domestic consumption. During the 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



313 



last decade wheat has been the principal crop, and approxi- 
mately 50,000,000 bushels have been exported annually. The 
total area of Argentina is over a million English square miles, 
an area equal to all of that portion of the United States which 
lies east of the Mississippi, with the Dakotas, Minnesota and 
Iowa added. "Wheat growing began in the north and extended 
in that direction farther than was advantageous. It is esti- 
mated that there are at least 60,000,000 acres of land that will 
eventually be producing wheat. One great advantage is that 



WHEAT STATISTICS OF ARGENTINA 
(In round thousands) 





Production 
in bushels 


Average 
Price in 
cents per 
bushel in 
Argentina 


Acres 




Exports 




Year 


Wheat 


Flour 




Bushels 


Value 


Barrels 


Value 


1880 




77 
63 
48 
59 
73 
86 
85 
58 
63 
75 


7 ",506 
7,826 
6,793 
6,045 
8,893 


48 
12,048 
17,273 
37,042 
59,092 
37,121 
19,547 
3,742 
23,705 
62,957 
70,903 
33,227 
23,696 
75,000 
84.684 
105,391 


S45 16 i «Q7 


1890 




9,493 1^'? 


580 


1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 


39,319 

59,109 

81,129 

59,164 

46,738 

31,594 

49,423 

88,067 

99,075 

74,752 

56,380 

103,759 

129,672 

150,745 

134,931 

155,993 


14,182 
22,639 
26,169 
18,790 
12,381 
3 349 
21,586 
36,746 
46,926 
25,322 
17,934 
58 .000 


212 
427 
458 
607 
582 
466 
359 
669 
576 
807 
439 
810 
1,207 
1,628 


988 
1,272 

984 
1,816 
1,881 
2,327 
1,537 
1,870 
1,6 '^o 
2,616 
1.544 



the land can be worked at almost any time of the year, for the 
climate is comparatively moderate. It is probable that the de- 
velopment of the wheat industry in Argentina will be more 
rapid than in Russia.' 

Canadian Wheat Production. — Canada has greater possibil- 
ities of an immediate and rapid increase in wheat production 
than any other countiy. It holds this position of pre-eminence 

1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 27, 1904. 

- Blcknell, Wheat Production and Farm Life in Argentina, U. S. 
Dept. Agr^ Bu. of Sta., Bui. 27. 1904. 



314 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

by virtue of its large area of fertile land, land so well suited 
to the growing of wheat that the grain produced is of a quality 
not generally equaled by other countries, and by virtue of the 
intelligent and industrious settlers who are rapidly taking up 
the unoccupied lands. Estimates vary greatly as to the actual 
wheat area available in Canada. The best lands are located 
in Manitoba, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It is 
probable that thei'e are at least 150,000,000 acres within these 
limits upon which wheat could be profitably grown, an area 
approximately three times as great as that annually sown in 
wheat in the United States. As yet there is not more than 
about 5 per cent of this land under cultivation, but over 100,- 
000,000 bushels of wheat are annually produced. The hard wheat 
of the Canadian Northwest ranks with the world's best wheat, 
and the Toronto papei's quote it at a price about 15 cents 
above that of Ontario wheat. In some years over half of the 
crop grades No. 1 hard, and it is greatly desired by the millers 
for mixing with lower grade wheats for the purpose of main- 
taining a desirable and uniform strength of flour. The yield of 
wheat per acre is larger in Canada than in the United States. 
The average yield of spring wheat in Manitoba from 1891 to 
1900 was 19 bushels. During the same period of time the yield 
in the Dakotas was about 11 bushels, while that for the whole 
of the United States was 13.3 bushels. The land of Canada 
seems to be more pi-oductive, the climate more favorable, and 
the methods of farming better. About one-fourth of the coun- 
try is capable of tillage. 

The settlement of Canadian lands is progressing rapidly. A 
large proportion of the immigrants and a great amount of 
capital come from the United States. From March to August 
of 1902, about 25,000 emigrants went from the United States to 
Canada. 12,000,000 acres of land have been settled in one year. 
In effect, the homestead laws of Canada are similar to those of 
the United States. Transportation facilities are being rapidly 
developed in order to meet the demands of the increased popu- 
lation, and some of the largest modern grain elevators are be- 
ing constructed. It appears as if Canada is destined eventually 
to produce the bulk of North American export wheat. The cold 
climate is unfavorable to the production of corn and many 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 315 

other crops, and it is very likely that the growing of wheat will 
be one of the great permanent industries of Canada, especially 
as the population is so largely agricultural/ 

Wheat in the United Kingdom. — The imports of wheat by 
Great Britain are far greater than those of any other counti'y 
and approximate two-fifths of those of the world. It is this 
fact which gives the United Kingdom its position of unusual 
importance in the wheat industry. About the time of Christ 
the Normans made England so productive of "corn" (wheat) 
that a large amount of grain was exported, and England was 
known as "The Granary of the North."" At the close of the 
eighteenth century the average crop of Great Britain was over 
00,000,000 bushels. In 1852 the wheat acreage was over 3,500,- 
000 acres. With the development of wheat production in the 
United States and other countries having great natural advan- 
tages over the United Kingdom, the price of wheat declined to 
such a degree that it became more profitable for the latter 
country to grow other crops and to import the bulk of its 
wheat. By 1868, less than 2,500,000 acres of wheat were grown 
in Great Britain, and the acreage continued to decline for over 
a quarter of a century. Less than 2,000,000 acres of wheat are 
now annually grown, but the yield is over 30 bushels per 
acre. During the decline in wheat acreage the price fell in 
still greater proportion. Wheat imports to England began 
about 1816. 

Australian Wheat Production. — Wheat growing has not al- 
ways been a profitable industry in Australia. It has been 
claimed that there is less return thei'e for the farmer's labor 
than in any other civilized country. Wheat thrives best on the 
cooler and drier lands of the southern pai't of Australia. 
Many farmers, however, have abandoned wheat raising for the 
cultivation of the grape vine, which is a more profitable crop 
in good seasons. Victoi'ia, New South Wales and South Aus- 
tralia are the chief wheat growing states. The yield per acre 
is never large, and short crops often result from severe 
droughts. For this reason Australia is not a reliable exporter. 
The production of wheat has been increasing, however, and 

^ Saunders, "Wheat Growing in Canada, 1904. 
- Warner, Landmarks Eng. Indus. Hist., pp. 8-11. 



316 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

now averages about 75,000,000 bushels annually. Wheat is 
one of the chief crops of New Zealand, and is exported. 

Miscellaneous Countries. — The two other South American 
countries besides Argentina which produce a surplus of wheat 
are Chile and Uruguay. Wheat is the leading agricultural prod- 
uct of Chile, which exported grain to California and Australia 
in the early years. Its export wheat now goes chiefly to Peru, 
Ecuador and the United Kingdom. The exports of Uruguay go 
to Brazil and Europe. Some wheat is grown in southern Bra- 
zil. The production of wheat in Mexico is steadily inci'easing, 
but it is insufficient for domestic needs. The per capita produc- 
tion of wheat in France is large, and about one-seventh of the 
agricultural territory is devoted to this industry. By reason 
of the liberal encouragement given by the government, and on 
account of the conservatism of the French peasantry, the area 
and production of wheat in France has been practically uni- 
form for over a quarter of a centui-y. Excepting Russia, 
France produces more wheat than any other European country. 
Austria-Hungary ranks next, and then come Italy and Ger- 
many. The latter country stands next to England in wheat 
imports. Roumania and the Netherlands each export over 25,- 
000,000 bushels of wheat annually, and Belgium exports about 
half of this amount. 

In the ti-^e of the Pharaohs and in the time of Rome's great- 
ness, Egypt was the most important commercial wheat center 
of the world. It is estimated that Egypt annually furnished 
20,000,000 bushels of wheat to Rome. Ancient Mauritania and 
Numidia, the present Algeria and Tunis, were also long the 
granaries of the Eternal City. Although wheat is still exported 
from Northern Africa, it does not form the principal crop. Most 
of the wheat produced is of the durum varieties, and its chief 
commercial use is for the manufacture of macaroni. Wheat 
thrives well in parts of southern Africa, and several million 
bushels are annually produced. 

The World Production and Movement of Wheat. — Ever since 
the time of Malthus there have been periodical predictions of a 
scarcity of food supply for mankind. Less than a decade ago 
Sir William Crookes, President of the British Association for 
the Advancement of Science, predicted that a serious shortage 



PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



317 



WHEAT CROP OF COUNTRIES NAMED, 1901-1906^ 
(In round thousands of bushels.) 



Country 


1901 


1902 


1903 


1904 


190S 


1906 


United States 


748,460 

91,424 

12,021 

55,581 

300 

4,193 

942 

4,231 

14,143 

310,938 

136,905 

10,000 

164,587 

4,400 

91,817 

180,900 

72,386 

24,000 

8,102 

22,000 

6,400 

401,772 

61,149 

264,825 

32,244 

12,000 

49,877 

6,733 

851,905 

87,417 

1,513,797 

395,574 

50,672 

56,610 

2,955,975 


670,063 

100,051 

8,477 

60,065 

265 

4,757 

4.528 

5,105 

14,521 

327,841 

133,523 

10,400 

136,210 

4,200 

143,315 

235,022 

76,220 

35,000 

1 1 ,409 

25,000 

7,000 

560,755 

84,718 

227,380 

33,896 

12,000 

39,753 

4,174 

778,591 

74,625 

1.795,336 

382,122 

52,023 

43,927 

3,126,624 


637,822 

84,583 

10,493 

50,320 

307 

5,538 

4,461 

4,258 

12,350 

364,320 

128,979 

8,000 

184,451 

4 000 

130,626 

226,856 

73,700 

36,000 

10 885 

26,000 

8,000 

551,942 

110,102 

2-7,601 

34,035 

1 1 ,000 

12,768 

7,693 

732,898 

119,013 

1,831,193 

467,115 

54313 

20,461 

3,224,993 


552,400 

74,834 

9,000 

39,083 

212 

5,417 

4,302 

4,423 

13,817 

298,826 

95,377 

6,500 

150,664 

4,000 

139,803 

204,535 

53,738 

42 ,000 

11.700 

23,000 

6,000 

622,487 

86,412 

359,936 

25,484 

12,000 

76,488 

8,140 

636,234 

155,185 

1,726,084 

518,589 

50,003 

84,628 

3,170,723 


692,979 

113,022 

6,000 

62,188 

300 

5,419 

4,500 

4,400 

13,000 

338,785 

83,605 

5,000 

160,000 

4,000 

135,947 

227,646 

100,000 

39 ,000 

12,300 

20,000 

6,000 

568,532 

107,903 

281,263 

20,000 

12,000 

56,215 

9,411 

812,001 

171,445 

1,790,693 

456,135 

41,500 

65,626 

3,337 400 


735,261 




131,614 




5,000 


United Kingdom 

Norway 


62,354 
300 




6,227 




4,400 


Netherlands 


4,700 




13,000 


France 


324,725 


Spain 


154,090 




8,000 


Italy 


168,000 




4,000 


Germany 


144,754 


Austria-Hungary 


268,574 
113,867 




55,000 




13,211 


Turkey in Europe 


22,000 
8,000 


Russia in Europe 


450,000 
56,000 


British India 


319,586 
28,000 




12,000 




70,681 




7,013 


North America 


872,771 


South America 


155,337 




1,825,733 




444 786 




46,813 




77,694 


Total 


3,423,134 







in the supply of wheat would exist by 1931 on account of the 
increasing population. Such predictions generally over-empha- 
size the numerical increase in population which is current, and 
fail to give due regard to the laws which control the produc- 
tion of the food supply and its ratio to population. A scar- 
city of wheat simply raises its price and inci-eases its production. 
In the world markets a sudden and acute scarcity of the gen- 
eral food supply is impossible. A gradual decrease in the gen- 
eral food supply until a sei'ious shortage exists is equally impos- 
sible, for, whatever the standard of living, population will limit 
itself long before acute conditions are reached. While several 
countries each possess many millions of acres of the finest lands — 
1 Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905-6. 



3] 8 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



THE VISIBLE SUPPLY OF WHEAT 
(In round thousands of bushels.) 



World's visible supply of 
wheat, first of each month 


Year 

March 

1st 


Stocks 
in fanners' 
hands in 
United States 


Visible supply 
of the United 
States and 
Canada 


Visible 
supply 
of the 


Month 


1896-1897 


1905-1906 


world 


July 


137,454 
124,292 
126,485 
151,271 
190,559 
202,329 
184,616 
173,496 
155,533 
139,049 
121,491 
106,912 


114,302 
106,838 
113,511 
138,759 
157,735 
189,323 
192,690 
188,030 
193,520 
183,687 
159,406 
139,154 


1892 
1893 
1894 
1895 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 


171,071 
13 5,205 
114,000 

75,000 
123,045 

88,149 
121,321 
198,056 
158,746 
128.098 
173,703 
164,047 
132,608 
111.055 
158,403 


68,007 
110,6.93 
105,863 
110,546 
98,834 
63,521 
49,445 
56,189 
91,749 
86,2 72 
88,332 
79,771 
58,389 
54,580 
75,428 


181,400 
229,300 
222,400 
212,400 




191 900 


September 

October 

November... 
December.... 

January 

February 


155,500 
140,600 
151,100 
181,500 
192,700 
191.900 
163,700 


April 


152,000 


May 


165 400 




193,520 







THE world's INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN WHEAT AND FLOUR IN 

BUSHELS. 
(In round thousands) 



Country 


Exports 


Imports 




1900 


1905 


IQOO 


1905 




73.495 
14,517 
9,701 


112,718 
31,730 
18,496 














41,847 
10,800 


64,977 


Brazil 


14,983 




5,140 

14.773 

422 


17,508 

47,293 

671 










Chili 








3,171 
3,464 
5,810 
49,246 
6,873 


5,436 








3,581 








7,347 




12,464 


10,513 


85,137 




5,864 


India (British) 


1,633 


37,477 






26,941 
3,057 

44,416 
5,029 


38,744 








7,874 




28.488 


53,951 


70,380 




4,673 




27,665 

74,140 

3,641 


65.247 

181,158 

3,521 












"8,502 

14,685 

182,100 

'33,075 

439,016 






35,503 








17,898 








212,089 




215,990 
15,658 

497.727 


97,609 
26,870 

708,393 






26,287 


Total 


608.788 







PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 319 

lands that lack only the application of human industry to make 
them productive of wheat, there is no occasion for any fear of 
a shortage of grain. The wheat industry of the world must 
undergo great developments befoi'e even its approximate limits 
can be defined. 

The Northern Hemisphei'e produces about 95 per cent of the 
wheat crop of the world. This half of the globe not only con- 
sumes its entire product, but a large part of the crop of the 
Southern Hemisphere as vvell. About 75 per cent of the total 
wheat crop is produced in seven countries noi'th of the equator. 
Europe produces over half of the world's wheat, but her pop- 
ulation is so great that she consumes the world's surplus in 
addition to her own product. It was not until after the middle 
of the nineteenth century that large masses of trans-oceanic 
wheat appeared in Europe. In the seventies of this century 
India wheat made its advent into the world market, and two 
decades later there wps a sudden and enormous influx of Ar- 
gentine wheat. The world's production of wheat is continually 
increasing, and in 1906 it approximated three and a half billion 
bushels. 



APPENDIX 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHEAT 

Following the classifications of Carleton/ of Haeckel," and 
of Kornicke and Wernei-, and perfecting them by adding new 
data, by extending to smaller subdivisions, by giving world dis- 
tribution, and, for the sake of unity and completeness, by giv- 
ing the essential characteristics of each division, there is given 
below a descriptive and distributive outline of the division 
Hordeae given on Page 2. 

11 Hordeae (Sub-tribe). 

2 1 Lolieae (Rye Grass). 

3 I Leptureae. 

4 1 Elymeae (Barley Wild Rye). 
5.1 Triticeae 

1.2 Agropyrum (Genus) (Quack. G 
2.2 Haynaldia. 
3.2 Secale (Rye). 
4.2 Triticum. 

1.3 Aegilops (section). Species ovata taken as type. Found in southern 

Europe to Turkestan in Asia. Twelve species in all are recognized. 
2.3 Sitopyrus. 

1.4 Triticum monococcum. 

l.S Name: None in English. German Einkorn preferred. French 

Engrain. 
2.S Characteristics: Spikelets three flowered but one grained; hardy; 
non-shattering; short, thin narrow-leaved plant seldom over 3 feet 
high. Very constant in fertility; does not give fertile cross with 
common wheat; only species in which paleas fall in two parts at 
maturity; spikelets awned; spike compact. 
3.5 Distribution: Found from Achaia in (jreece to Mesopotamia. Present 
in Swiss Lake dwellings of stone age. Cultivated to a limited extent 
in Spain, France, Germany Switzerland and Italy. Unknown in 
America except to experimenters. 
4.5 Varieties: Einkorn; Engrain double (two grains). 
5.5 Use: Rarely for bread; usually for mush and "cracked wheat," and 
for fodder. 
2.4 Triticum Polonicum. 

1.5 Name: Polish wheat a misnomer; Giant or Jerusalem rye. Perhaps 

native in Mediterranean region. 
2.5 Characteristics: Only species in which lowest flower has palea as long 
as its glume; outer glumes at least as long as flowering glumer,; two 
to three seeded; tall; stems pithy within; heads and kernels extremely 
large; macaroni gluten; drought and rust resistant; resembles rye. 
3.5 Distribution: Spain; Italy; Abyssinia; Southern Russia and Turke- 
stan; Brazil; Northwestern United States. 
4.5 Varieties: Only one. White Polish, is widely known. 
5.5 Use: Principally for macaroni. 
3.4 Triticum sativum dicoccum. 

1 5 Name: None in English, often erroneously called spelt; German 
emmer preferred. 

1 U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Veg. Phye. and Path., Bui. 24, p. 6. 

2 Minn. Bui. 62, p. 392. 

321 



322 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

2.S Characteristics: Probably derived from Einkorn; leaves usually 
velvety hairy; plants pithy or hollow; heads very compact and flat 
almost always bearded; threshing does not remiove chaff; spikelets 
two-grained; non-shattering; some varieties drought and rust 
resistant. 

3.S Distribution: Extensively in Russia and Servia; Germany; Spain; 
Abyssinia; Switzerland; to some extent in France, and Italy; also 
perhaps in northern India Thibet, and in portions of China; in 
the United States; cultivated in prehistoric times. 

4.5 Varieties: Red chaff; white chaff; etc. 

5.5 Use: Quite extensively for human food in portions of Russia, Ger- 
many, Switzerland and Italy as "kaska," a sort of porridge from 
crushed emmer; grist; "pot barley;" bread; also used for feed. 
4.4 Triticum sat. spelta. 

1.5 Name: English, spelt; German, spelz or dinkel; French epeautre. 

2.5 Characteristics: Grows fully as tall as wheat; heads loose, narrow, 
rather long, bearded or bald; very brittle rachis; spikelets two to 
five-grained; far apart in head; hardy; non-shattering; constancy 
in fertility; retains chaff in threshing. 

3.5 Distribution: The oldest grain cultivated in ancient Egypt, Greece 
and the Roman Empire. With emmer is the principal bread grain 
of southwest German Empire; raised widely in Russia, Switzerland, 
Belgium, France, Italy, Spain. In Canada and the United States 
it is known only to experimenters. 

4.5 Varieties: Winter and spring varieties white-bearded ; black-bearded; 
red; smooth; white. 

5.5 Use: Flour is placed in same rank as common wheat flour; fed to 
stock. 
5.4 Triticum sat. compactum. 

1.5 Name: Club or square head wheats; also "hedgehog wheat," 
"dwarf wheat." 

2.5 Characteristics: Little more than two feet high, being a dwarf; heads 
very short, often squarely formed; commonly white, at times red; 
bearded or bald; spikclts very close, three or four-grained; grain 
short and small, red or white; great yielding power; stiff straw; 
non-shattering; eary maturity; drought resistant. 

3.5 Distribution: Pacific coast and Rocky Mountain states of the 
United States; Chile; Turkestan; Abyssinia; to slight extent in 
Switzerland, Russia, and a few other districts of Europe. 

4.5 Varieties: Generally known as "club" or "square head"; dwarf; 
hedgehog. 

5.5 Use: Yield the flour desired in certain localities; crackers; breakfast 
foods. 
6.4 Triticum sat. turgidum. 

1.5 Name: Poulard or pollard wheats; English (a misnomer), rivet; 
German, bauchigcr Weizen; French, ble petanielle; also known as 
English wheat; Egyptian wheat. 

2.5 Characteristics: Rather tall; broad velvety leaves; stems thick and 
stiff; heads long, often square; bearded; spikelets compact, two to 
four-grained; grains hard and light color; resistant to rust and 
drought. 

3.5 Distribution: France, Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Southern Rus- 
sia, other Mediterranean and Black Sea districts, and experimentally 
in the United States. 

4.5 Varieties: Poulard; composite wheats (T. compositum), known as 
Miracle, Egyptian or Mummy wheats, having branched or compound 
heads whose grains develop unequally. 

5.5 Use: Macaroni and other pastes; bread; mixed with bread wheats 
to produce flour desired by certain French markets. 
7.4 Triticum sat. durum. 

1.5 Name: Durum, macaroni, or flint wheats. 

2 . 5 Characteristics : Hardest grain and longest beard known among wheats ; 
plants tall; leaves smooth with hard cuticle; heads slender, compact, 
at times very short; always bearded; grains glassy, sometimes rather 
transparent, yellowish, hmg; very sensitive to changes of environ- 
ment; high gluten content; drought and rust resistant; spikelets 
two to four-grained. 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHEAT 323 

3.5 Distribution: Practically the only wheat of Algeria, Spain, Greece, 
Mexico, and Central America; extensively raised in south and east 
Russia, Asia Minor, Turkestan, Egypt, Tunis, Sicily, Italy, India, 
Chile, Argentina, United States, and Canada. 
4.5 Varieties: 

1.6 Gharnovka, Velvet Don, and Amautka (Azov Sea region, Russia) 

United States. 
2.6 Kubanka (east of Volga river, Russia), United States. 
3.6 Saragolla (southeast Italy). 
4.6 Goose wheat (Canada. Dakota). 
5.6 Trigo candeal and Anchuelo (Argentina). 
6.6 Nicaragua (Central America, Texas). 
7.6 There are perhaps several dozen other varieties. 
5.5 Uses: Macaroni; semolina; noodles; all kinds of pastries; bread; it is 
coming to be used for all purposes, in some regions, as ordinary 
wheat flour. 
8.4 Triticum vulgare. 

t.5 Name: This is the common bread wheat. 

2.5 Characteristics: Well known; heads rather loosely formed; bearded 
or bald; chaff usually smooth but may be velvety; spikelets gener- 
ally three-grained, but may be two, and rarely four; stem usually 
hollow; all the characteristics vary widely (see varieties). 
3.5 Distribution: Practically over the whole globe, within the limits 

already given (see varieties). 
4.5 Varieties: (Carleton's division, based not on botanical but on environ- 
mental characteristics). 
1.6 Soft winter wheats: Grain amber to white; produced by moist 
mild climate of even temperature; found in eastern United States, 
western and northern Europe, Japan, and in portions of China 
India, Australia, and Argentina. 
2.6 Hard winter wheats: Usually red-grained; usually bearded ; rela- 
tively high gluten content; grown on black soils in climate charac- 
terized by extremes of temperature and moisture. Found chiefly 
in Kansas. Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma in the United 
States (the wheat of Crimean origin known as "Turkey red"), in 
Argentina (the Italian wheat, Barletta), in Hungary and Rouma- 
nia, in southern and southwestern Russia, and to some extent in 
Canada, northern India, Asiatic Turkey, and Persia. 
3.6 Hard spring wheats : What has been said of the hard winter wheats 
also applies to this group, the difference being that the growing 
season is shorter, and the winter too severe for winter varieties. 
They are found in central and western Canada, the north central 
states of the United States (these are the fife and blue-stem wheats), 
east Russia and western and southern Siberia. 
4.6 White wheats: Soft and very starchy; grains harder and much 
drier than those of the soft winter wheats; fall or spring sown, even 
in same locality; grown chiefly in the Pacific coast and Rocky 
Mountain states of the United States, in Australia, in Chile, in 
Turkestan, and the Caucasus. 
5.6 Early wheats : Grain soft or semi-hard , amber to red ; main charac- 
teristic is that they ripen early. Found in Australia and India, 
have a slight representation in California, and include some of the 
dwarf wheats of Japan. 
5.5 Districts in the United States (Carleton's division). 
1.6 Soft wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 14| bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties grown. 

1.8 Fultz. 5.8 Jones' Wmter Fife. 

2.8 Fulcaster. 6.8 Red Wonder. 

3.8 Earlv Red Clawson. 7.8 Gold Com. 

4.8 Longberry. 8.8 Blue Stem. 

3.7 Needs of the grower. 

1.8 Harder-grained, more glutinous varieties. 

2.8 Hardier winter varieties for the most northern portions. 

3.8 Early maturity. 

4.8 Rust resistance. 



324 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



2.6 Semi-hard winter wheat. 




1.7 Present average yield per acre 


, about 14 bushels. 


2.7 Chief varieties grown. 




1,8 Fultz. 


5.8 Valley. 


2.8 Poole. 


6.8 Nigger. 


3.8 Rudy. 


7.8 Dawson's Golden Chaff 


4.8 Mediterranean. 


8.8 Early Red Clawson. 


3.7 Needs of the grower. 




1.8 Hardness of grain. 




2.8 Rust resistance. 




3.8 Hardy winter varieties. 




3.6 Southern wheat. 




1.7 Present average yield per acre, 


about 9§ bushels. 


2.7 Chief varieties now grown. 




1.8 Fultz. 




2.8 Fulcaster. 




3.8 Red May. 




4.8 Rice. 




5.8 Everett's High Grade. 




6.8 Boughton. 




7.8 Currel's Prolific 




8.8 Purple Straw. 




3.7 Needs of the grower. 





1.8 Rust resistance. 

2.8 Early maturity. 

3.8 Resistance to late spring frosts. 

4.8 Stiffness of straw. 
4.6 Hard spring wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 13 bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties. 

1.8 Saskatchewan Fife. 

2.8 Scotch Fife. 

3.8 Power's Fife. 

4.8 Wellman's Fife. 

5.8 Hayne's Blue Stem. 

6.8 Bolton's Blue Stem. 

7.8 Minnesota 163. 
3.7 Needs of the grower. 

1.8 Early maturity. 

2.8 Rust resistance. 

3.8 Drouth resistance. 

4.8 Hardy winter varieties. 
5.6 Hard winter wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 12} bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties grown. 

1.8 Turkey. 

2.8 Kharkov. 

3.8 Big Frame. 
3.7 Needs of the grower. 

1.8 Drouth resistance. 

2.8 Hardy winter varieties. 

3.8 Early maturity. 
6.6 Durum wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, Hi bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties. 

1.8 Nicaragua. 

2.8 Turkey. 

3.8 Arnautka. 

4.8 Kubanka. 
3.7 Needs of the grower 

1.8 Durum varieties. 

2.8 Drouth resistance. 

3.8 Rust resistance. 

4.8 Early maturity. 
7.6 Irrigated wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 21 bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties. 

1.8 Sonora. 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHEAT 325 

2.8 Taos. 

3.8 Little Club 

4.8 Defiance. 

S.8 Turkey. 
3.7 Needs of the grower. 

1.8 Increase of gluten content. 

2.8 Early maturity. 
8.6 White wheat. 

1.7 Present average yield per acre, about 14| bushels. 
2.7 Chief varieties. 

1.8 Australian. 

2.8 California Club. 

3.8 Sonera. 

4.8 Oregon Red Chaflf. 

S.8 Foise. 

6.8 Palou.se Blue Stem. 

7.8 Palouse Red Chaff. 

8.8 White Winter. 

9.8 Little Club. 
3.7 Needs of the grower. 

1.8 Early maturity. 

2.8 Non-shattering varieties. 

3.8 Hardy winter varieties in the colder portions. 
The distribution of these wheats in the United States in 1900 is shown in 
Map on page 9. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This bibliog'rapliy contains practically all of the works to 
which reference has been made in this volume. In addition 
it contains many other works that have been found of value. 
While it is not put forth as a complete list of all publications on 
Avheat, it should, nevertheless, serve as a good foundation in 
all reseai'ch work on this subject, for it is a fairly exhaustive 
list of American jiublications, and also contains many foreign 
Avorks. An alphabetical list of all authors is first given, in- 
cluding periodicals containing articles of which the author is 
not stated, as well as miscellaneous official and unofficial publi- 
cations. This list gives opportunity for looking up the Avorks 
of any given author. For the purpose of aid in research, cer- 
tain classifications of Avorks Avill be found after the alphabetical 
list. All articles from encyclopedias and dictionaries are 
groujied together. Under each bureau or diA'ision of the United 
States Department of Agriculture are grouped the publications 
of that bureau or diA'ision. The next three groups are those 
of the United States census, the Department of Commerce and 
Labor, and consular reports. Then folloAvs an alphabetical 
list of the state experiment stations of the United States, with 
station publications listed chronologically under each state. 
The pul)lications of the Canadian Department of Agriculture 
are also grouped together. Finally, there is given a topical in- 
dex of authors. In general, this index contains only those 
Avorks Avhich permit of definite classification, and it is arranged 
on the basis of individual Avorks. Each Avork is placed under 
only one topic, the topic Avhicli it covers most definitely. The 
name of an author, hoAvever, appears as many times under dif- 
ferent topics as he has Avritten works on different phases of 
wheat. This topical index, and, to a certain extent, the classi- 
fication under the United States Department of Agriculture, 
Avill facilitate a topical study of wheat, Avhile the classification 
of experiment statioir Avorks will aid in a geogi-aphical study. 
Works of special merit are designated Avith*. Authors the 
Avhole of Avhose publications are of unusual A'alue are desig- 
nated Avith^. There are a fcAV Avorks that are inaccessible to the 

326 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 327 

author, but should be contained in a bibliography of this na- 
ture. They are designated with §. New York is abbreviated 
N. Y., and London L. 

OUTLINE OF BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Authors, p. 327. 

Encyclopedias and dictionaries, p. 345. 
United States Department of Agriculture, p. 346. 
United States Census, p. 350. 

United States Department of Commerce and Labor, p. 351. 
United States Consular Reports, p. 351. 
Experiment Station Publications, p. 351. 
Canada Department of Agriculture, p. 353. 
Topical Index of Authors, p. 354. 

AUTHORS. 

*Adams, Cyrus C. A commercial geography. N. Y., 1902. 

Adams, Edward P. The modern farmer in his business relations. San Fran- 
cisco, 1899. 

Albini, Giuseppi. Considerazioni sul valore nutritivo del pane integrale, in Ren- 
diconto deir accademia delle scienze fisiche e matematiche, serie 3a. -Vol. 
iv.-(Anno xx.xvii), Naples, 1898. 

Aldrich, W. Future wheat farming. Social Economist, 6:224, 1894. 

Allen, E. W. The feeding of farm animals. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 
22, 1895. 

Subject list and abstracts of recent work in agricultural science. U. S 

Dept. Agr., Exp. Sta. Record, Vol. 14, No. 11, 1903. 

Some ways in which the Department of Agriculture and the Experiment 

Station supplement each other. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 167. 

Allen, Grant. The pedigree of wheat. Pop. Sci. Mo., 22:662, 1883. 

Allgemeines Statistisches Archiv, Tuebingen, 2:153-206, 517-614, 1891-2; 3:217-273, 

1893, Russlands Bedeutung fur den Weltgetreidemarkt. 
All the Year Round, L. 1:66, 1859, Farming by steam. 
Andrew, A. P. Influence of the crops upon business in America. Quarterly Jour 

of Econ., 20:323-53, 1906. 
Andrews, C. C. Conditions and needs of spring wheat culture in the Northwest. 

U. S. Dept. Agr., Special Rept. 40, 1882. 
Andrews, Frank. Crop export movement and port facilities on the Atlantic and 

Gulf coasts. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Sta., Bui. 38, 1905. 
Annals of Botany, 18:321, 1904. On the fertilization, alternation, and general 

cytology of the uredineae. 
♦Ardrey, R. L. American agricultural implements. Chicago, 1894. 
Arnold, A. Mowing and reaping machines. Amer. Cycl. 12:16, 1875. 
Atkinson, Edw. The wheat growing capacity of the United States. Pop. Sci 

Mo., 54:145, 1898. 
Atlantic Monthly, Boston, 45:33, 1880. The bonanza farms of the West. 
Atwater, Helen W. Bread and the principles of breadmaking. U. S. Dept 

Agr., Farmers' Bui. 112, 1900. 
Atwater, W. O. Organization of agricultural experiment stations in the United 

States. U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 1, 1889. 
Austin, O. P. Commercial Russia in 1904. Mo. Sum. Com. & Fin., Feb., 1904, 

p. 2755. 
Baker, E. L. Transportation of wheat in the Argentine Republic. U. S. Cons. 

Rept., 49:460, 1895. 
'Baker, R. S. The movement of wheat. McClure's Mag., 14:124, 1899. 
Baker, Willis E. Transportation of wheat in the Argentine Republic. U. S. 

Cons. Rept., 49:460, 1895. 
Balz, Svlvester. Forage plants and cereals. S. D. Agr. Col. E.xp. Sta., Bui. 96, 

i906. 
Barrow, D. N. Report for 1901, of North Louisiana Experiment Station. 
Beal, F. E. L. Birds that injure grain. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 345, 1897. 
Food of the bobolink, blackbirds and grackles. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. 

Biolog. Sur., Bui. 13, 1900. 
Beal, W. H. Farmyard manure. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 21, 1894. 



.)J8 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

■ Some practical results of experiment station work. Yearbook U . S. Dept. 

Agr., p. 580, 1902. 
Beals, Edward A. Rainfall and irrigation. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 627, 

1902. 
*Becker, Max. Der argentinische Wcizcn im Weltmarkte. Jena, 1903. (Bibli- 
ography on Argentina.) 
Bedford, S. A. Reports Experimental Farm for Manitoba, 1899-1902, in Repts. 

Exp. Farms, Canada, 1899-1902. 
Bennett, Alfred W. Wheat rust and barberry rust. Nature, 2:318, 1870. 
Bennett, R. L. Wheat experiments. Ark. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 29, 1894. 
Bessey, Charles E. Wheat and some of its products. Neb. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 

32, 1894. 
Bessev, Ernst A. Progress of plant breeding in the United States. Yearbook 

U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 465, 1809. 
Bicknell. Frank W. Wheat production and farm life in Argentina. U. S. Dept. 

Agr.. Bu. of Statis., Bui. 27, 1904. 

Agriculture in Argentina. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1904, p. 271. 

Bigelow, F. H. Work of the meteorologist for the benefit of agricultural commerce 

and navigation. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 71, 1899. 
Birkbeck, Morris. Notes on a iourney through France. 1814. L., 1815. 
Blount, A. E. Cereals, etc. N. Mex. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta.. Bui. 6, 1892. 
Bohm, Otto. Die Kornhauser. Miinchener Volkswirtschaftliche Studien, 26, 

1898. 
Bollcy, H. L. Wheat rust. Ind. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 26, 1889. 

Effect of seed exchange upon the culture of wheat. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. 

Sta., Bui. 17, 1895. 

r Treatment of smut in wheat. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 19, 1895. 

* ■ New studies upon the smut of wheat, etc. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 

27, 1897. (Bibliography of station publications on cereal smuts.) 

The stinking smut of wheat — the commercial side of the question. Pro- 
ceedings Tri-State Grain Growers' Ass'n., p. 85, 1000. 

Department of Botanv. Rept. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta.. 1901, 1003. 

Wheat rust. Science, n.s. 22 :50-l, 1905. 

Rust problems. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 68, 1906. 



Bollman, Lewis. The wheat plant. Rept. U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 65, 1862. 
*Bond, Fred. Irrigation laws of the Northwest Territories of Canada and Wyom- 
ing. U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 96, 1901. 
Bonsteel. J. A. The use of soil surveys. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1906. p. 181. 
Boss. Andrew. Wheat varieties, breeding and cultivation. Univ. of Minn. Agr. 

Exp. Sta.. Bui. 62. 1899. 
Botanical Gazette. 25:30, 1808. A general review of the principal results of 
Swedish research into grain rust. 

39:241, 1905. Several reproductions of the rusts. 

Bovey, C. C. The fallacy of exporting wheat. Rev. of Revs., 25:588, 1902. 
Bradstreets, N. Y. 26:142. 1898, The Indian wheat outlook. 

166. Spanish wheat duties reduced. 

166. The Australian wheat yield. 

230, Siberian wheat. 

262, Co-operative wheat exporting. 

349, Wheat culture in North Canada. 

610, Is a dearth of wheat in sight? 

654, The world's wheat crop. 

27:406, 1899, Productive California wheat. 

494. Calendar of the world's wheat harvest. 
28:686. 1900. Wheat exports. 

753, 

830, The wheat tides. 

830, The proposed German duty on wheat. 

■-^30:149, 1002, Manitoba wheat versus American millers. 
469, Wheat yields. 

469, An English view of American wheat. 

495, The wheat crop of the world. 
Brandenburg, Broughton. Moving this year's record grain crop. Harper's 

Weekly, 49:1632. 1905. 
Breazeale, J. F. Effect of concentration of nutrient solution upon wheat cultures 

Science, n.s. 22:146-9, 1905. 
tBrewer, Wm. H. First century of the Republic. N. Y., 1876. 
z Cereal production. 10th U. S. Census, Vol. 3, 1880. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 329 

tBriggs, Lyman J. Electrical instruments for determKiing the moisture, temper- 
ature, and soluble salt content of soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., Liiv. of Soils 
Bui. 15, 1899. 

An electrical method for determining the moisture content of arable 

soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of Soils, Bui. 6, 1897. 

An electrical method for determining the temperature of soils. U. S. 

Dept. Agr., Div. of Soils, Bui. 7, 1897. 

The mechanics of soil moisture. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of Soils Bui 

10 1897. 

■ The movement and retention of water in soils. Yearbook U. S. Dept. 

Agr., p. .^99. 1898. 

Field operations of the Division of Soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., Rept. 64, 

1899. 

Objects and methods of investigating certain phvsical properties of 

soils. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 397, 1900. 

British Almanac Companion, L., p. 62, 1839. Enumeration and notice of acts of 

Parliament for the regulation of the trade of wheat. 
British Manufacturing Industries, L 2d ed. Vol.10. 1877. Agricultural machinery. 
British South African Gazette, July, Aug., Sept., 1903. South African atiriculture. 

in U. S. daily Cons. Repts., No. 1768, 1903. 
Broomhall, J. S. Corn trade yearbook, 189S. 

Brown, A. Crum. Justus Liebig. Ency. Brit., 9th ed.. 14:565, 1882. 
§Bruner, Lawrence. The more destructive locusts of America north of Mexico. 

U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of Entomol., Bui. 28, o.s., 1893. 
Buchholz, E. Homerischen Realien, Vol. I Leipsic 1871. 
Buffalo. Chamber of Commerce, report 190S. 
Buffiim, B. C. Results of three years' experiments in cost and profit of growing 

wheat. Univ. Wy. Exp. Sta., Bui. 25, 1895. 

The stooling of grains. Univ. Wy. E.xp. Sta., Bui. 37, 1898. 

Some experiments with subsoiling. Univ. Wy. Exp. Sta., Bui. 41 1^99. 

The use of water in irrigation in Wyoming. U. S. Dept. Agr.. Off. 

Exp. Sta., Bui. 81, 1900. 

Wheat growing on the Laramie Plains. Univ. of Wy. Exp. Sta., Bui. 



60, 1903. 

Bunker, Wm. H. Report to the Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco of the 
Honorary Commission of foreign commerce, 1900. 

Report of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress at Cripple Creek, 

Colorado, July, 1900 (to San Francisco Chamber of Commerce). 

— Reports to the -Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, of July 10th, 

1902, reviewing legislative acts of the S7th Congress, 1st session. 

Address to Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco, July 21, 1903. 

Biirgel. Martin. Russisches Getreide. Jahrbuch f. Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und 

Volkswirthschaft im deutschen Reich, Bd. ?4, Heft II, s. 205, 1900, 
Burrows, Alvin T. Hot waves. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 325, 1900. 
Burtis, F. C. Okla. Agr. Exp. Sta.. Bui. 65, 1905. 
Caird, James. High farming under liberal covenants the best substitute for 

protection. Edinburg, 1849. 

High farming vindicated. Edinburg, 1850. 

India, the land and the people. L., 1884. 

Agriculture in the reign of Queen Victoria, Vol. II. London and Phila- 
delphia, 1887. 

California State Agricultural Society, report 1905. 

Cameron, Frank K. Field operations of the Division of Soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., 
Rept. 64, 1899. 

The chemistry of the soil as related to crop production. U. S. Dept. 

Agr., Bu. Soils, Bui. 22. 1903. 

Candolle, Alphonse de. Origin of cultivated plants. N. Y. 1885. 
tCarleton, Mark Alfred. Preliminary report on rusts of grain. Kan. State Agr. 
Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 38. 1893. 

Improvements in wheat culture. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 

489, 1896. Also in Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr., Vol. 21, No. 81, 1902, p. 5 

Cereal rusts of the United States. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Veg. 



Phys. & Path., Bui. 16, 1899. (Bibliography on rust, 74 works.) 

Russian cereals adapted for cultivation in the United States. U. S. 

Dept. Agr., Div. Botanv, Bui. 23, 1900. 

-The basis for the imnrovement of American wheats. U. S. Dept. Agr 



Div. Veg. Phys. & Path., Bui. 24, 1900. 



330 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 



Successful wheat growing in semi-arid districts. Yearbook U. S. 



Dept. Agr., p. 529, 1900. 

Macaroni wheats. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. Plant Indus., Bui. 3, 1901. 

Emmcr; a grain for the semi-arid regions. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farm- 
ers' Bui. 139, 1901. 

Wheat improvements in Kansas. Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr., Vol. 



21, No. 81, p. S6, 1902. 

Investigations of rusts. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Plant Indus., Bui. 

63, 1904. 

The commercial status of durum wheat. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of 



Plant Indus., Bui. 70, 1904. 

Lessons from the grain-rust epidemic of 1904. U. S. Dept. Agr., 



^ 



Farmers' Bui. 219, 1905. 
Casson. Herbert N. The Romance of the Reaper. N. Y., 1908. 
♦Chamberlain, Joseph S. The commercial status of durum wheat. U. S. Dept. 

Agr., Bu. Plant Indus., Bui. 70, 1904. 
Chambers' Journal, Edinburg, 21:4, 1854. Steam among farmers. 
tChase, Leon Wilson. Farm Machinery and Farm Motors , N. Y., 1908. 
Cheyney, Edw. P. Social changes in England. Boston, 1895. Penn. Univ. 

Publications, Philology, Literature and Archsology, series. Vol. 4, No. 2. 
Chief Grain Inspectors' National Association, Proceedings 1st, 2d and 3d annual 

conventions, 1902-3. 
Chilcott, E. C. Macaroni wheat in South Dakota. S. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., 

Bui. 77, 1902. 

Crop rotation for South Dakota. S. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui, 79, 1903. 

Some soil problems for practical farmers. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 

pp. 441-52, 1903. 

♦Chittenden, F. H. Some insects injurious to stored grain. Yearbook U. S. 

Dept. Agr., p. 277, 1894. Also in Farmers' Bui. 45, 1897. 
Church, A(rthur) H(erbert). Food grains of India. L., 1886. 
Clark, V. A. Seed selection according to specific gravity. N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. 

Bui. 256, 1904. 
Clarke, S. A. The Inland Empire's harvests. Outlook, 66:286, 1900. 
Coburn, F. D. Kansas and her resources. 

Kansas wheat growing. Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr., Vol. 21, No. 81, 1902. 

Kansas statistics. Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr., Vol. 21, No. 84, 1902. 

Code. W. H. Use of watei in irrigation. U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta. Bui. 86. 

1899. 
Coffin, Fred F. B. Final report ot the mid-plains division of the artesian and 

underflow investigation between the 97 th meridian of longitude and the 

foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Sen. Ex. Doc, 1st sess., 52 Cong., 

1891-'92. Vol. 4 Irrigation part 4, serial No. 2899. 
Cole, John S. Crop rotation. S. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 98, 1906. 
Colman, Norman J. Introduction to "Organization of Agricultural Experiment 

Station in the United States." U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 1, p. 5. 

1899. 
Colqvihoun. Peter. Treatise on the wealth, nower and resources of the British 

Empire. L. 1814. 
Comer, C. M. Wheat. S. C. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 27, 1898. 
Commercial and Financial Chronicle, N. Y. 75:292, 1902, The Deermg Harvester 

Company. 
Commercial Review, Portland, Oregon, July 1, 1901 & 1903. 
Conant, Charles A. The uses of speculation. Forum, 31:698-712, 1901. 
Conner, C. M. Field experiments with wheat. Mo. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 21 

1893. 
Conner, John B. Eighth Biennial Report (14th Volume) of the Indiana Depart 

ment of Statistics. 1899-1900. 
Conrad, J. Getreidepreise. Handworterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, 3:888 

1892. 
Cooley, R. A. Entomological Department. Rept. Mont. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta.. 1902 
Corn Trade Year Book, Liverpool & L., 1S95, Jj. S. Broomhall. 
Cottrell H. M. Wheat as a food for farm animals. Rept. Kan. State Bd. Agr. 

Vol. 21, No. 81, p. 117, 1902. 
Coville, F. V. Division of Botany. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr. p. 90, 18ti7. 

Report of Botanist of Bu. of Plant Indus., 1901. 

Crawford, R. F. An inquirv into wheat prices and wheat supply. Jour. Roy. 
Sta. Soc, 58:75. 1895. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 331 

Notes on the food supply of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Prance and 

Germany. Jour. Roy. Sta. Soc, 62 :597, 1899. 

Crookes, Wm. Address. Rept. Brit. Ass'n for Adv. of Sci., 1898. 

The wheat problem. L., 1900. 

*Crosby, D. J. Agricultural Experiment Stations in foreign countries. U. S. 
Dept. Agr., Of=E. Exp. Sta., Bui. 112, 1902. 

Work and expenditures of the Agricultural Experiment Stations. Rept. 

Off. Exp. Sta., p. 23, 1902. 

The usual illustrative material in teaching agriculture in rural schools. 



Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905, p. 257. 
Culbertson, Harvey. Irrigation investigations in western Texas. U. S. Dept. 

Agr., Off.of Exp. Sta., Bui. 158, 1904. 
Cunningham, Bryson. Grain storage and manipulation at the quayside. Gassier, 

28:40-54, 1905. 
Current Literature, 36 :548, 1904. Different breads and their values. 
Dabney, Charles W. Agriculture, United States. Encv. Brit., 10th ed., 1:209. 

1902. 
Dabney, John C. The superior value of large, heavy seed. Yearbook U. S. Dept. 

Agr., p. 305, 1896. 
Dalrymple, Wm. Treatise on the culture of wheat. L., 1801. 
Dalton, J. C. Aliment or food. Amer. Cy., 1 :314, 1873. 
*Darvvin, Charles. The variation of animals and plants under domestication. 

N. Y., 1868. 
Daubeny, Charles Giles Bridle. Lectures on Roman husbandry. Oxford, 1857. 
tDavidson, J. Brownlee. Farm Machinery and Farm Motors, N. Y., 1908. 
Davis, C. W. The wheat supply of Evirope and America, 1891. Arena, 3:641, 1891. 
— ■ — ■ — - Some new views of "options," "futures," and "hedging," 1892. 

Wheat: Crookes vs. Atkinson, Dodge, et al. Forum, 27 :101, 1899. 

Our present and prospective food supply. In "The Wheat Problem" by 

Crookes, p. 155, 1900. 

Davis, Horace. Wheat in California. Overland Mo., 1:442, 1868; n.s., 32:60, 1898. 

*Dehdrain, P. P. Science in wheat growing. Pop. Sci. Mo., 50:101, 1896. 

Dennis, J. S. Irrigation laws of the Northwest Territories of Canada and of 

Wyoming. U. S. Dept. Agr., Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 96, 1901. 
*DeVries, Hugo. Plant breeding. Comments on the experiments of Nilsson and 

Burbank, Chicago, 1907. 
tDewey, Lyster Hoxie. The Russian thistle. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui., 

10, 1893. 

— — The Russian Thistle. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Botany, Bui. 15, 1894. 

* Legislation against weeds. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Botany, Bui. 17, 1896. 

— — — — Migration of weeds. Yearbook, U. S. Dept. Agr., p. 263, 1896. 

Dike, G. P. The Argentine wheat farm. Outlook, 64:119, 1900. 

Dorsev, Clarence W. Field operations of the Division of Soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., 

■ Div. of Soils, Rept. 64, 1899. 
Douglas, E. S. A model bakery in London. The World Today, 10:213-14, 1906. 
Drill, Robert. Soil Deutschland seinen ganzen Getreidededarf selbst produzieren? 

Stuttgart, 1895. 
Duvel, J. W. T. The vitality of buried seeds. U. S. Dept. Agr., Bu. of Plant 

Indus., Bui. 83, 1905. 
Eastman, Philip. This vear's big wheat harvest in Kansas. Rev. of Revs., 28:193, 

1903. 
-.Edgar, William C. The story of a grain of wheat. N. Y., 1903. 

England's fight for free bread. The Northwestern Miller, Vol. 55, No. 1, 

p. 21, 1903. 

Edwards, S. Fred. Some essential soil changes produced by micro-organisms. 

Mich. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 218, 1904. 
Eighty years progress of the United States, Hartford, 1877. 
Elliott, C. G. Some engineering features of drainage. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr. 

p. 231, 1902. 
Ellis, William. The modern husbandman. L., 1744. 
*tEmery, Henry Crosby. Legislation against futures. Pop. Sci. Quar., 10:62, 

1895. 
* Speculation on the stock and produce exchanges of the United States. 

N. Y., 1896. 

The results of the German exchange act of 1896. Pol. Sci. Quar., 13:286, 



1898. 
— Futures in the grain market. Econ. Jour., 9:44, 1899. 



332 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

England, Chas. All grain inspection departments should be conducted upon civil 

service principles. Amer. EIcvatiir& Grain Trade, 22:200, 1003. 
ItEriksson, J. Zeitschrift fur Pflanzenkrankenheiten, Vol. 4, Stuttgart, 1894. 

Die Getreiderost, Stockholm, 1896. 

Ewell, Ervin E. Every farm an experiment station. Yearbook U. S. Dent. Agr., 

p. 291, 1897. 
Fairchild, David. Cvdtivation of wheat in permanent alfalfa fields. U. S. Dept. 

Agr., Bu. of Plant Indus.. Bui. 72, 190S. 
Fairchild, David G. Saragolla wheat. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bu. Plant Indus., Bui. 

25, 1903. 
Fairfield, W. H. Some experiments with subsoiling. Univ. Wy. Exp. Sta., Bui. 

41, 1899. 

Experiments in wheat culture. Univ. Wy. Exp. Sta., Bui. 48, 1901. 

Farm Implement News, Chicago, July 17, 1902. 

Farm Machinery Daily, St. Louis, Oct. 23, 1903, Proceedings of the tenth annual 

convention of the National Association of Agricultural Implement and 

Vehicle Manufacturers. 
Fields, John. Reports of wheat raisers. Okla. Agr. Exp. Sta., Bui. 47, 1900. 

— Report Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, 1902 

Fitch, Chas. H. Manufacturers of interchangeable mechanism: vii.. Agricultural 

Implements. 10th U. S. Census, Vol. 2, 1880. 
*Fitzherbert, Anthony (?). Book of husbandry. L., 1882. Reprinted from edition 

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Fleming, O. The supply of wheat. Economic Review, 15:212-14; 332-5; 474-6, 

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Fletcher, James. Report of the Entomologist and Botanist, 1898-1902. In Repts. 

of Can. Exp. Farms, 1898-1902. 

Injurious insects of the year in Canada. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of 

Entomology, Bui. 40, n.s., 1903. 

Flint, Charles L. Progress in Agriculture. In Eighty Years Progress of the 

U. S., 1867. 
Foering, John O. Proceedings of the first annual convention of the Chief Grain 

Inspectors' National Association, Feb. 1902. 

Same, second annual convention. Oct. 1902. 

Same, third annual convention, Oct. 1903. In Amer. Elevator & Grain 

Trade, Vol. 22, No. 4, Oct. 15, 1903. 

Forbes, R. H. Sixteenth Annual Report, Univ. of Ariz. Agr. Exp Sta., 1905. 
Ford, W. C. The question of wheat. I.England. Pop. Sci. Mo., 52 :760, 1898. 

The question of wheat. II, France. Pop. Sci. Mo., 53:1, 1898. 

The question of wheat. Ill, Russia. Pop. Sci. Mo., 53:351, 1898. 

* Wheat in commerce. Mo. Summary of Com. & Fin., March, 1898, p. 1386. 

Fortier, S. Report Montana Agricultural College E.xperiment Station, 1902. 

Fortune, Robert. Wanderings in China. L., 1847. 

Foster, Luther. Experiments in wheat culture. Univ. Wv. Exp. Sta., Bui. 48 

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Fowler, Eldridge M. Agricultural machinery and implements. In C. M. Depew's 

100 Yrs. Amer. Commerce, 2:352, 1895. 
Fream, Wm. The complete grazier. 13th ed., L., 1893, p. 706. 

Agriculture: United Kingdom. Ency. Brit. 10th ed., 1:209, 1902. 

*Freeman, E. M. Minnesota plant diseases, 1905 

The use of the seed plat in the prevention of diseases in wheat. Proc. 

Amer. Breeder's Ass'n, 2:49, 1906. 

Fuchs, Carl Johannes.- Der Englische Getreidehandel und seine Organisation. 
Jahrbiicher fiir Nationalokonomie, 54:1, 1890. 

Der Waren-Terminhandel. Leipzig, 1891. 

Gallowav, B. T. Water as a factor in the growth of plants. Yearbook U.S. Dept. 

Agr., p. 165, 1894. 
Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. Yearbook U. S. 

Dept. Agr., p. 99, 1897. 

Progress in the treatment of plant diseases in the United States. 



Yearbook U.S. Dept. Agr., p. 191, 1899. 

Industrial progress in plant work. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 



219, 1902. 
Gardner, Frank D. An electrical method of determining the moisture content 

of arable soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. of Soils, Bui. 6, 1897. 
Field operations of the Division of Soils. U. S. Dept. Agr., Rept. 64, 

pp. 36, 77. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 333 

The electrical method of moisture determination in soils. U. S. Dept 

Agr.. Div. of Soils, Bui. 12, 1898. 

Garman, H. Red rust of wheat. Ky. State Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 77, 1898. 

• A new wheat fly. Ky. State Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., Bui. 30, 1890. 

Garnier, Russel M. History of the English landed interest. L., 1892. 

Annals of the British peasantry. L.,& N. Y., 1895. 

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'~:^ 



X 



7 



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340 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

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The relation of plant physiology to the development of agriculture. Year- 
book U. S. Dept. Agr., 1904, p. 119. 

Woods, Chas. D. The digestibility and nutritive value of bread. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

Off. Exp. Sta., Bui. 85, 1900. 

■ Wheat flour and bread. Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., pp. 347-362, 1903. 

Worst, J. H. Report of director. Rept. N. D. Agr. Col. Exp. Sta., p. 9, 1903. 
Wrightson, John. Review of "An investigation of the composition of American 

wheat and corn," by C. Richardson. Nature, 29:173, 1883. 

Wheat production in India. Nature, 32:79, 1885. 

Agricultural machinery. Brit. Mfg. Indus., Vol. 10, Stanford, 1867. 

■ Entire wheat flour. Me. Agr. Exp. Sta.. Bui. 103. 1904. 

Cereal breakfast foods. U. S. Dept. Agr., Farm. Bui. 249, 1906. 

Youatt, Wm. The complete grazier. 12th ed , p. 706, L., 1893. 

Young, Arthur. Annals of agriculture and other useful arts. Bury St. Edmimds 

1787. 
Zanitz, C. A. Breeding cereals. Proc. Amer. Breeders' Ass'n, 2:118, 1906. 
Zeitschrift fur Volkswirthschaft, Socialpolitik und Verwaltung, Wien and Leipzig. 

8:276, 1899, Getreidepreise und Getreidezolle, Gustav Lippert. 

ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND DICTIONARIES 

American Cyclopedia, 1:314, 1873, Aliment or food. 
10:767, 1875, Macaroni. 

12: 16, 1875, Mowing and reaping machines. A. Arnold. 
15:413, 1875, Straw. 
16:585, 1875, Wheat. 
American Mechanical Dictionary, 3:1888, 1876, Reaper. E. H. Knight. 
Appleton's Cyclopedia of Applied Mechanics, 1:2, 1880, Agricultural Machinery. 

J. Rose. 
Chamber's Encyclopedia, 6:762, 1892, Macaroni. 
8:595, 1892, Reaping. 
9:765, 1892, Straw. 
10:625, 1892, Wheat. J. MacDonald. 
Encyclopedia Britannica, * 1:291, 1875, Agriculture. W. T. Thornton. 
Ninth Edition. 

3:250, 1875, Baking. J. Paton. 
9:343, 1879, Manufacture of Flour. J. Paton. 
14:565, 1882, Justus Leibig. A. Crum Brown. 
24:531, 1888, Wheat. M. T. Masters. 
24:534, 1888, Insects injurious to wheat. A. E. Shipley. 
Tenth Edition, * 1:166, 1902, Agricultural machinery. F. C. Skinner. 

* 1:178, 1902, Agriculture: United Kingdom. W. Fream 

* 1:209, 1902, Agriculture: United States. C. W. Dabney 
Insurance Cyclopedia, 1 :43, 1871; 5:272, 461, 536, 586, 1878,Agricultural Insurance. 

C. Walford. 
International Encyclopedia, 15:465, 1893, Wheat. 
Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia, 1:784, 1893, Bread 
3:433, 1894, Flour. 
5:416, 1894, Macaroni. 
7: 17, 1895, Reaping and Mowing Machines. I. P. 

Roberts. 
8:731. 1895. Wheat. G. C. Watson. 



346 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

Knight's New Mechanical Dictionary, p. 743, 1884, Reaping Machine. E. H 

Knight. 
New International Encyclopedia, 3:377, 1902, Bread. 

7:516, 1903, Flour. 

9:138, 1903, Han.'est and Harvesting. 
11:626, 1903, Macaroni. 
Reallexikon der Indogermanischen Altertumskunde, 2:947, 1901. Weizen und Spelz. 
O. Schrader. 

OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS 
United States Department of Agriculture 
Annual Report, p. 332, 1847, On wheat, tobacco, and spelt, as cultivated on the 
Rhine. 
65, 1862, The wheat plant. Lewis Bollman. 
369, 1873, Wheat culture in Japan. 

1, 1902, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. James 
Wilson. 
155, Report of the Bureau of Soils. M. Whitney. 

189, Report of acting entomologist, C. L. Marlatt. 

241, Report of the Office of the Experiment Stations. 

A. C. True. 
Bureau of 'Chemistry: 

Report of the United States Commissioner of Agriculture, 1884. 

Report of Chemistry. C. Richardson. 

Bui. 4, 1884, An investigation of the composition of American wheat and 

com. Clifford Richardson. 
Report of Chemist, 1899-1902. H. W. Wiley. 

Bui. 99, 1905, Proceedings of the 22d annual convention of the association 
of official agricultural chemists. 
Bureau of Plant Industry: 

Bui. 3, 1901, Macaroni wheats. M. A. Carleton. 
Report of Chief, 1901-1902. B. T. Galloway. 
Report of Botanist, 1901. F. V. Coville. 
Bui. 7, 1902, Algerian durum wheats. C. S. Scofield. 

20, 1902, Manufacture of semolina and macaroni. R. P. Skinnor. 
25, 1903, Saragolla wheat. D. G. Fairchild. 

40, 1903, Injurious insects of the year in Canada. J. Fletcher. 

41, 1903, The commercial grading of corn. C. S. Scofield. 
47, 1903, The description of wheat varieties. C. S. Scofield. 
63, 1904, Investigations of rusts. M. A. Carleton. 

70, 1904, The commercial status of durum wheat. M. A. Carleton. 

J. S. Chamberlain. 

71, 1905, Soil inocculations for legumes. G. T. Moore. 

72, 1505, Cultivation of wheat in permanent alfalfa fields. David 

Fairchild. 

78, 1905, Improving the quality of wheat. T. L. Lyon. (Bibliography 

in foot notes.) 

79, 1905, The variability of wheat varieties in resistance of toxic salts 

L. L. Harter (Bibliography). 
S3, 1905, The vitality of buried seeds. J. W. T. Duvel. 
Division of Biological Survey: 

Bui. 11, 1898, The geographical distribvition of cereals in North America. 
C. S. Plumb. 
13, 1900, Food of the bobolink, blackbirds and grackles. F. E. L. Beal. 
Division of Botanv: 

Bui. 15, 1894, The Riissian thistle. L. H. Dewey. 

Cir. 6, 1896, Standards of the purity and vitality of agricultural seeds. 

G. H. Hicks. 
Bui. 17, 1896, Legislation against weeds. L. H. Dewey. 

23, 1900, Russian cereals adapted for cultivation in the United States. 

M. A. Carleton. 

24, 1900, The germination of seeds as affected by certain chemical fer- 

tilizers. G. H. Hicks. 
Division of Entomologv: 

Bui. 17, 1888, The chinch bug. L. O. Howard.^- 

25, 1891, Destructive locusts. C. V. Rilev. 

§ 28, 1893, The more destructive locusts of America north of Mexico. 
L. Bruner. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 347 

13, 1898, Recent laws against injurious insects in North America. 
L. O. Howard. 

15, 1898, The chinch bug. F. M. Webster. 

16, 1898, The Hessian fly in the United States. H. Osborn. 
Report of Acting Entomologist, 1902. C. L. Marlatt. 

Bui. 40, 1903, The distribution of the chinch bug in Minnesota. F. L. 
Washburn. 

Injurious insects of the year in Canada. J. Fletcher. 
46, 1904, Proceedings of the 16th annual meeting of the Association of 

Economic Entomologists. 
52, 190S, Proceedings of the 17th annual meeting of the Association of 

Economic Entomologists. 
60, 1906, Proceedings of the 18th annual meeting of the Association of 
Economic Entomologists. 
Cir. 66, 1905, The joint worm. F. M. Webster. 
70, 1906, The Hessian fly. F. M. Webster. 
85, 1907, The spring grain-aphis. F. M. Webster. 
Division of Publications. Rev. ed., Bui. 3, 1898. 

Historical sketch of the United States Department of Agriculture. C. H 
Greathouse. 
Division of Soils: 

Bui. 4, 1896, Methods of the mechanical analysis of soils and the determi- 
nation of the amount of moisture in soils in the field. 

5, 1896, Texture of some important soil formations. 

6, 1897, An electrical method of determining the moisture content of 

arable soils. M. Whitney, F. D. Gardner, etc. 

7, 1897, An electrical method of determining the temperature of soils. 

M. Whitney, L. J. Briggs. 

8, 1897, An electrical method of determining the soluble soil content 

of soils. M. Whitney, T. H. Means. 
10, 1897. The mechanics of soil moisture. L. J. Briggs. 

12, 1898, The electrical method of moisture determination in soils. 

F. D. Gardner. 

Report No. 64, 1899, Field operations of the Division of Soils. M. 
Whitney, T. H. Means, etc. 

Bui. IS, 1899, Electrical instruments for determining the moisture, temper- 
ature and soluble salt content of soils. L. J. Briggs. 

Report of Chief of Bureau, 1902. M. Whitney. 

Bui. 22, 1903, The chemistry of the soil as related to crop production. 
M. Whitney, F. K. Cameron. 
Division of Statistics, Misc. series: 

Bui. 12, 1896, Freight charges for ocean transportation of the products of 
agriculture. 

13, 1898, The fertilizer industry. J. Hyde. 

18, 1901, The course of prices of farm implements and machinery 

G. K. Holmes. 

20, 1901, Wheat growing and general agricultural conditions in the 

Pacific coast region of the United States. E. S. Holmes, Jr. 
Division of Statistics: 

Crop Cir. 1898-1899. 

The Crop Reporter, Vols. 1-10, 1899-1908. 

Bui. 27, 1904, Wheat production and farm life in Argentina. F. W. BickneU. 
38, 1905, Crop export movement and port facilities on the Atlantic and 

Gulf coasts. Frank Andrews. 
42, 1906, Russia's wheat surplus. I. M. Rubinow. 
Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathologv: 

Bui. 16, 1899, Cereal rust of the United States. M. A. Carleton. 

24, 1900, The basis of the improvement of American wheats. M. A. 

Carleton. 
29, 1901, Plant breeding. W. M. Hays. 
Report of Chief, 1900. B. T. Galloway. 
Farmers' Bulletins: 

No. 5, 1892, Treatment of smuts of oats and wheat. W. T. Swingle. 
10, 1893, The Russian thistle. L. H. Dewev. 

21, 1894, Bamvard manure. W. H. Beal. 

22, 189 5, The feeding of farm animals. E.W.Allen. 

44, 1896, Commercial fertilizers. E. B. Voorhees. 

45, 1897, Some insects injurious to stored grain. F. H. Chittenden. 



348 THE BOOK OF WHEAT 

46, 1896, Irrigation in htimid climates. F. H. King. 

56, 1897, Experiment station work, I. 

75, 1898, The grain smuts. W. T. Swingle. 

79, 1898, Experiment station work, VI. 
105, 1899, Experiment station work, XII. 

1 12, 1900, Bread and the principles of bread-making. Helen W. Atwater. 
132, 1901, The principal insect enemies of growing wheat. C. L. Marlatt. 
186, 1904, Experiment station work, XXIII. 

219, 1905, Losses from the grain rust epidemic of 1904. M. A. Carleton. 
233, 1905, Experiment station work, XXXI. 
237, 1905, Experiment station work, XXXII. 

249, 1906, Cereal breakfast foods. C. D. Woods, H. Snyder. 

250, 1906, The prevention of stinking smut of wheat and loose smut of 

oats. W. T. Swingle. 

251, 1906, Experiment station work, XXXIV. 
Office of Expermient Stations: 

Bui. 1, 1889, Organization of agricultural experiment stations in the 
United States. 
11, 1892. 
67, 1899, Studies on bread and bread making. H. Snyder and L. A. 

Voorhees. 
73, 1899, Irrigation in the Rocky Mountain states. J. C. tJlrich. 
86, 1899, The use of water in irrigation. E. Mead, C. T. Johnson, etc. 
81, 1900, The use of water in irrigation in Wyoming. B.C.Buflfum. 
85, 1900, The digestibility and nutritive value of bread. C. D. Woods, 

L. H. Merrill. 
96, 1901, Irrigation laws of the Northwest Territories of Canada and 
of Wyoming. J. S. Dennis, Fred Bond, etc. 
101, 1900, Stvidies on bread and bread making. H. Snyder. 
Report, 1901, including "The .scope and purpose of irrigation investigations 

of the Office of E.Kperiment Stations," by E. Mead. 
Bui. 103, 1902, The evolution of reaping machines. F. M. Miller. 

112, 1902, Agricultural Experiment Stations in foreign countries. A. C. 
True, D. J. Crosby. 
Report of the Director, 1902. A. C. True. 
Annual Report, 1902. A. C. True, D. J. Crosby, E. Mead. 
Experiment Station Record, Vol. II., No. 12; Vol. XIV., No. 11, 1903. 
Bui. 158, 1905, Irrigation, and drainage investigations, 1904. J. J. Vernon, 

Harvey Culbertson, C. E. Tait. 
Bui. 164, 1906. Proceedings of the 19th annual convention of the Association 
of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations. 
♦Senate Executive Documents, 1st Session, 52d Congress, 1891-92: 
Vol. 4, Irrigation, Parts 1-4, serial No, 2899. 
Part I, Report on Irrigation. J. R. Hinton. 

Facts and conditions relating to irrigation in various countries 
p. 377. J R. Hinton. 
II, Artesian and underflow investigation. E. S. Nettleton. 
Ill, Final geological reports of the artesian and underflow investigation 
between the 97th meridian of longitude and the foothills of the 
Rocky Mountains. R. Hay. 

Report of the mid-plains division. J. W. Gregory, F. F. B. Coffin. 
Special Reports: 

No. 40, 1882, Conditions and needs of spring wheat culture in the North- 
west. C. C. Andrews. 
Miscellaneous, No. 2, 1883, What science can teach about wheat. C. Rich- 
ardson. 
Yearbook United States Department of Agriculture: 

1894, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. S. Morton, p. 9. 

Education and research in argiculture in the United States. A. C. 
True, p. 81. 

Soils in their relation to crop production. M. Whitney, p. 129. 
Water as a factor in the growth of plants. B. T. Galloway, A. F. 
Woods, p. 165. 

Mineral phosphates as fertilizers. H. W. Wiley, p. 177. 
The most important insects injurious to stored grain. F. H. Chitten- 
den, p. 277. 
The grain smuts: Their cavises and prevention. W. T. Swingle, p. 409. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 349 

1895, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. S. Morton, p. 9. 
Soil ferments important in agrictdture. H. W. Wiley, p. 69. 
Reasons for cultivating the soil. M. Whitney, p. 123. 
Humus in its relation to soil fertility. H. Snyder, p. 131. 

1896, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. S. Morton, p. 9. 
Potash and its function in agriculture. H. W. Wiley, p. 107. 
Irrigation on the Great Plains. F. H. Newell, p. 167. 
Migration of weeds. L. H. Dewey, p. 263. 

The superior value of large, heavy seed. G. H. Hicks, J. C. Dabney, 

p. 305. 

Agricultural education and research in Belgium. A. C. True, p. 361. 

Improvement in wheat culture. M. A. Carleton, p. 489. 

An ideal department of agriculture and industries. E. Tisserand, 

p. 543. 

1897, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 
Division of Chemistry. H. W. Wiley, p. 76. 
Division of Botany. F. G. Coville, p. 90. 

Division of Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. B. T. Galloway, 

p. 99. 

Division of Soils. M. Whitney, p, 122. 

Division of Statistics. J. Hyde, p. 258. 

Popular education for the farmer in the United States. A. C. True, 

p. 279. 

Everv farm an experiment station. E. E. Ewell, p. 291. 

Birds' that injure grain. F. E. L. Beal, p. 345. 

Hybrids and their utilization in plant breeding. W. T. Swingle, 

H; J. Webber, p. 383. 

Danger of importing insect pests. L. O. Howard, p. 529. 

1898, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 
Birds as weed destrovers. S. D. Judd, p. 221. 

Work in Vegetable Physiology and Pathology. A. F. Woods, p. 261. 
Improvement of plants by selection. H. J. Webber, p. 355. 
The movement and retention of water in the soils. L. J. Briggs, p. 399. 
The soluble mineral matter of soils. T. H. Means, p. 495. 

1899, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 

Work of the meteorologist for the benefit of agricultural commerce 
and navigation. F. H. Bigelow, p. 71 

Progress in economic entomology in the United States. L. O. How- 
ard, p. 135. 

Agricultural education in the United States. A. C. True, p. 157. 
Progress in the treatment of plant diseases in the United States. B. T. 
Galloway, p. 191. 

The relation of chemistry to the progress of agriculture. H. W. Wiley, 
p. 201. 

Progress of agriculture in the United States. G. K. Holmes, p. 307. 
Soil investigations in the United States. M. Whitney, p. 335. 
Progress of plant breeding in the United States. H. J. Webber, E. A 
Bessey, p. 465. 

Development of agriciiltural libraries. C. H. Greathouse, p. 491. 
Agricultural experiment stations in the United States. A. C. True, 
p. 513. 

Seed selling, seed growing and seed testing. A. J. Pieters, p. 549. 
Rise and future of irrigation in the United States. E. Mead, p. 591. 

1900, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 
Agricultural education in France. C. B. Smith, p. 115. 
Commercial plant introduction. J. G. Smith, p. 131. 
Influence of rye on the price of wheat. E. T. Peters, p. 167. 

Hot waves: Conditions which produce them and their effect on agri- 
culture. A. T. Burrows, p. 325. 

Objects and methods of investigation of certain physical properties of 
soils. L. J. Briggs, p. 397. 

Practical irrigation. C. T. Johnston, etc., p. 491. 
Successfvil wheat growing in semi-arid districts. M. A. Carleton, p. 529. 

1901, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 
Progress in plant and animal breeding. W. M. Hays, p. 217. 
Agricultural seeds — where grown and how handled. A. J. Pieters, 
p. 233. 

Influence of environment on the chemical composition of plants. 



350 THE BOOK OP WHEAT 

H. W. Wiley, p. 299. 

Some typical reservoirs in the Rocky Mountain states. E. Mead, 

P- 415. , ^ 

Experimental work with fungous diseases of grasshoppers. L. O, 

Howard, p. 459. 

Wheat ports on the Pacific coast. E. S. Holmes, Jr., p. 567. 

1902, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wilson, p. 9. 
Industrial progress in plant work. B. T. Gallovvay, p. 219. 
Some engineering features of drainage. C. G. Elliott, p. 231. 
Analysis of waters and interpretation of results. J. K. Haywood, 
p. 283. 

Bacteria and the nitrogen problem. G. T. Moore, p. 333. 
Systems of farm management in the United States. W. J. Spillman, 
P- 343. 

Progress in secondary education in agriculture. A. C. True, p. 481. 
Practices in crop rotation. G. K. Holmes, p. 519. 
Crops used in the reclamation of alkali lands in Egypt. T. H. Kear- 
ney, T. H. Means, p. 573. 

Some practical results of experiment station work. W. H. Beal, p. 589. 
Rainfall and irrigation. E. A. Beals, p. 627. 

1903, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. J. Wlson, p. 9. 
The farmers' mstitutes. John Hamilton, p. 109. 

Some results of investigations in soil management. F. H. King, p. 159. 

Preparing land for irrigation. R. P. Teele, p. 239. 

Macaroni wheat J. H. Shepard, p. 329. 

Wheat for bre. .. Harry Snyder, C. D. Wood, p. 347. 

Some soil problems for practical farmers. E. C. Chilcott, p. 441. 

1904, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, p. 9. 

The relation of plant physiology to the development of agriculture. 
A. F. Woods, p. 119. 

Agricultural development in Argentina. F. W. Bicknell, p. 271. 
The annual loss occasioned by destructive insects in the United States. 

C. L. Marlatt, p. 461. 

State publications on agriculture. C. H. Greathouse, p. 521. 

1905, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, p. 9. 

Some ways in which the Department of Agriculture and the Experi- 
ment Station supplement each other. E. W. Allen, p. 167. 
The use of illustrative material in teaching agriculture in rural schools. 

D. J. Crosby, p. 257. 

The business of seed and plant introduction. A. J. Pieters, p. 291 

The effect of inbreeding m plants. A. D. Shamel, p. 377. 

Illustrations of the influence of experiment station work on culttxre of 

field crops. J. I. Schulte, p. 407. 

The relation of irrigation to dry farming. Elwood Mead, p. 423. 

Farm practice in the control of field-crop insects. F. M. Webster, 

p. 465. 

Formaldehyde: Its composition and uses. B. H. Smith, ]). 477. 

1906, Report of the Secretary of Agriculture, p. 9. 

The present status of the nitrogen problem, p. 125. 

The use of soil surveys, p. 181. 

The effect of climatic conditions on the composition of durum wheat, 

p. 199. 

UNITED STATES CENSUS 

8th, 1860, Agriculture. 
9th, 1870, Vol. 3. 
lOth^ 1880, 2, Statistics of manufacturers. 

Manufactures in interchangeable mechanism; VII, Agricultural 
implements. C. H. Fitch. 

3, Remarks on the statistics of agriculture. F. A. Walker. 
General statistics — tabular statements. 
Cereal production. W. H. Brewer. 
Flour milling. K. Neftel. 
nth, 1890, Part 1, Fire insurance. T. A. Jenny. 

Manufactviring industries in the United States. 
Statistics of agriculture. J. Hyde. 
Agriculture by irrigation. F. H. Newell. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 351 

12th 1900, Vol. 6, Part 2, Crops and irrigation. Le Grand Powers. 

9, 3, Flouring and gristmill products. H. W. Wiley. 

10, 4, Agricultural implements J. D. Lewis. 

Patent growth of the industrial art. S. B. Ladd. 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR 

Bureau of Manufactures, Tariff Series No. 2, 1907. 

UNITED STATES CONSULAR REPORTS 

49:460, 1895, Transportation of wheat in the Argentine Republic. W. E. Baker. 
Daily Reports: 

1903, Agricultural implements in foreign countries. Nos. 1743, 1745, 1747, 
1750,1752, 1753, 1754, 1757, 1763, 1764, 1768, 1782. 
Macaroni wheat in foreign countries. Nos. 1796, 1808, 1820, 1838. 
64:438-444, 1900, Working of the German law against speculation in grain. F. H. 
Mason. 

EXPERIMENT STATION PUBLICATIONS 

Experiment Stations: 

Alaska: Annual Report, 1904. C. C. Georgeson. 

Arizona: Timely hints for farmers, No. 20, 1900. 

Annual report, 1901, 1905. 

Irrigation at the station farms, 1898, 1901, 1902. 
Arkansas: Bui. 29, 1894, Wheat e.xperiments. R. L. Bennett. 

42, 1896, Concerning wheat and its mill products. G. L. Teller. 
53, 1898, Progress of investigation in chemistry of wheat. G. L. 

Teller. 
62, 1900, Wheat experiments. C. L. Newman. 
California: Bui. 133, 1901, Tolerance of alkali by various cultures. R. H. Lough- 
ridge. 

Circular 16, 1905. 
Colorado: Bui. 77, 1903 Unirrigated lands of eastern Colorado. J- E- Payne. 
Illinois: BuL 8.8, 1903. Soil treatment for wheat in rotations, etc. C. G. Hopkins. 
Circular 97, 1905, Soil treatment for wheat on the poorer lands of the 
Illinois wheat belt. C. G. Hopkins. 
Indiana: Bui. 26, 1889, Wheat rust. H. L. BoUev. 

41, 1892, Field experiments with wheat. W. C. Latta. 
Forms of nitrogen for wheat. H. A. Huston. 
114, 1906, Winter wheat. 
Kansas: Bui. 20, 1891, Experiments with wheat. C. C. Georgeson. 
33, 1892, Experiments with wheat. C. C. Georgeson. 
40, 1893, Experiments with wheat. C. C. Georgeson. 
59, 1896. Experiments with wheat. C. C. Georgeson. 
38, 1893, Preliminary Report on rusts of grain. A. S. Hitchcock. 

M. A. Carleton. 
99, 1900, Prevention of grain smuts. A. S. Hitchcock. 

Botanical notes on wheat and spelt. A. S. Hitchcock. 
Kentucky: Bui. 30, 1890, A new wheat fly. H. Garman. 

57, 1895, Wheat experiments. 

77, 1898, Red rust of wheat. H. Garman. 
83, 1899, Wheat. 
39, 1900, Wheat. 

113, 1904, Protein content of the wheat kernel. J. N. Harper. 
A. M. Peter. 
Louisiana: North Report, 1901. D.N.Barrow. 

Maine: Bui. 103. 1904, Entire wheat flour. C. D. Woods, L. H. Merrill. 
Maryland: Bui. 56, 1898, Wheat and lime experiments. 

58, 1898, The Hessian fly in Maryland. W. G. Johnson. 

Some important wheat diseases. C. O. Townsend. 
14, 1891, Wheat. A. I. Hayward. 
Michigan: Bui. 101, 1893, Composition of wheat and straw. R. C. Kedzie. 
160, 1898, Some insects of the vear 1897. R. H. Pettit. 
191, 1901, Shrinkage of farm products. C. D. Smith. 

218, 1904, Some essential soil changes produced by micro-organ- 

isms. S. F. Edwards. 

219, 1904, Soil moisture, its importance and management, 

J. A. Jeffery. 



352 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Mississippi: 



Missouri: 



Montana: 
Nebraska: 



Minnesota: Bui. 29, 1893, Wheat. Harry Snyder. 

33, 1894, The Russian Thistle or Russian tumble weed. W. M. 

Hays. 
40, 1894, Grain and forage crops. W. M. Hays. 
46, 1895, Grain and forage crops. W. M. Hays. 
SO, 1896, Grain and forage crops. W. M. Hays and fithers. 
54, 1897, Human food investigations. Harry Snyder. 

62, 1899 Wheat, varieties, breeding and cultivation. W. M. 

Hays, A. Boss._ 

63, 1899, The proteids of wheat flour. Harrv Snyder. 
Class Bui. 8, 1900, Minnesota No. 163 wheat. W. M. flays, A. Boss. 
Press Bui. 17, 1903, Winter wheat in Minnesota. W. M. flays. 

24, Seed grain. 

Bui. 84, 1903, Injurious insects of 1903. F. L. Washburn. 

85, 1904, Wheat and flour investigations. Harry Snyder. 
89, 1905, Soil investigations. Harry Snyder, J. A. Hummel. 
94, 1906, Soil investigations. Harry Snyder. 
Bui. 66, 1901, Soils of Mississippi. W. L. flutchinson. 

77, 1902, Analvses of commercial fertilizers. W. L. Hutchinson. 
Annual Report, 1902. 

Bui. 80, 1903, Farmers' Institute Bulletin, 1902. 
Bui. 15, 1891, Wheat varieties and change of seed. fl. J. Waters. 
19, 1892, Soils and fertilizers. P.Schweitzer. 
21, 1893, Field experiments with wheat. C. M. Conner. 
62, 1903, The Hessian fly in Missouri. J. M. Stedman. 
Annual Report, 1902. 

Bui. 32, Vol. 6, Art. 6, 1894, Wheat and some of its products. C. L. 
Ingersoll, C. E. Bessey. 
72j 14, 2, 1902, The adaptation and improvement of 

winter wheat. T. L. Lyon. 
89, 17, 5, 1905, Winter wheat — co-operative experi- 

ments with the U. S. Dept of Agr. T. L. 
Lvon, A. Keyser. 
New Mexico: Bui. 6, 1892, Cereals. A. E. Blount. 

New York; Bvil. 194, 1901, The Hessian fly and its ravages in New York. 
216, 1904. 

2 50, 1904, The nature of the principal phosphorus compounds in 
wheat bran. A. J. Patten, E. B. Hart. 
1904, Seed selection according to specific gravity. V. A. 

Clark. 
8, 1892, Wheat growing and dairving for North Dakota. 
E. F. Ladd, W. H. Whaleii. 
10, 1893, Grain and forage crops. W. M. Hays. 
17, 1895, Effect of seed exchange upon the culture of wheat. 

fl. L. Bollev. 
19, 1895 Treatment of smut and wheat. H. L. Bolley. 
24, 1896, North Dakota soils. E. F. Ladd. 
27, 1897, New studies upon the smut of wheat, oats and 

barley, etc. H. L. Bolley. 
39, 1898, Variety tests and changing seed wheat. J. H. 

Shepperd, A. M. Ten Eyck. 
36, 1899, A study of the root systems of wheat, etc. A. M. 
Ten Eyck. 

47, 1901, Humus and soil nitrogen and climatic studies with 

wheat. E. F. Ladd. 

48, 1901, Wheat farming experiments and soil moisture 

studies. J. H. Shepperd, A. M. Ten Evck. 
Annual Reports, 1901-1905. 

Bui. 60, 1904, Analvsis of formaldehvde sold in North Dakota. 
E. F.'Ladd. 
62, 1904, Weed studies. L. R. Waldron. 
64, l'*05. Root svstems of field crops. J. fl. Shepperd. 
68, 1906. Rust problems, fl. L. Bollev, F. J. Pritihard. 
Ohio: Bui 2d Ser., Vol. 4, No. 8, Art. 12, 1891, Forty years of wheat culture in 
Ohio. C. E. Thome. 
82, 1897, Field experiments with wheat. J. F. flickman. 
97, 1898, Some diseases of wheat and oats. A. D. Selby. 
110, 1899, The maintenance of fertility. C. E. Thome. 



256, 
North Dakota: Bui. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 353 

129, 1901, Field experiments with wheat. J. F. Hickman. 
136, 1902, The Hessian fly in Ohio. C. E. Thorne. 
165, 1905, Experiments with winter wheat. C. G. Williams. 
Oklahoma: Bui. 47, 1900, Reports of wheat raisers. J. Fields. 
Annual Report, 1902-3. J. Fields. 
Press Buls. 99, 100. 1903, Wheat experiments. 
Bui. 65, 1905. F. C. Burtis, L. A. Moorhouse. 
Pennsylvania: Bui. 39, 1897, Variety tests of wheat. 

46, 1899, Variety tests of wheat. G. C. Watson, E. H. Hess. 
55, 1901, Variety tests of wheat. G. C. Watson, E. H. Hess. 
67, 1904, Variety tests of wheat. G. C. Watson, A. K, Risser. 
76, 1906, Variety tests of wheat. G. C. Watson, N. G. Miller. 
Rhode Island: Report, 1894. 

South Carolina: Buls. 37, 1898; 56, 1900, Wheat. J. S. Newman, etc. 
South Dakota: Bui. 77, 1902, Macaroni wheat in South Dakota. E. C. Chilcott. 
79, 1903, Crop rotation for South Dakota. E. C. Chilcott. 
81, 1903, The artesian well waters of South Dakota. J. H. 
Shepard. 

Some destructive insects. D. A. Saunders. 
89, 1904, Preliminary experiments with vapor treatments for 
the prevention of the stinking smut of wheat. W. A. 
Wheeler. 
92, 1905, Macaroni wheat and bread. J. H. Shepard. 
96, 1906. Forage plants and cereals. W. A. Wheeler, S. Balz. 

98, 1906, Crop rotation. J. S. Cole. 

99, 1906, Macaroni or durum wheats. J. H. Shepard. 
Tennessee: Bui. 2. Vol. 3, 1890. C. S. Plumb. 

4, 16. 1903, Influence of climate and soil on the composition 

and milling qualities of winter wheat. A. M. 
Soule, P. O. Vanatter. 
Utah: Bui. 91, 1905, Arid farming in Utah. J. A. Widtsoe, L. A. Merrill. 
West Virginia: Bui. 105, 1906, Tubercles on legumes with and without cultures. 

J. L. Sheldon. 
Wyoming: Bui. 22, 1895. 

25, 1895, Results of three years' experiments in cost and profit of 

growing wheat. B. C. Buffum. 
37, 1898, The stooling of grains. B. C. Buflfum. 
41, 1899, Some experiments with subsoiling. B. C. Buffum, W. 

H. Fairfield. 
48, 1901, Experiments in wheat culture. L. Foster, W. H. Fair- 
field. 
60, 1903, Wheat growing on the Laramie Plains. B. C. Buffum. 



CANADA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Annual Reports of the Experimental Farms of Canada 1898-1905. 
Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa: 

Buls. 26, 1897; 29, 1898; 34, 1899; 36, 1900; 39, 1901; 41, 1902; 44, 1903. 

Results from trial plots of grain, etc. W. Saunders. 
Bui. 50, 1905, The milling and chemical value of the grades of wheat in the 
Manitoba Inspection Division crop of 1904. C. E. Saunders, 
F. T. Shutt. 
S3, 1905 Results obtained in 1905 from trial plats of grain, etc. 
W. Saunders, C. E. Saunders. 
Cerealist, reports, 1904, 1905. C. E. Saunders. 

Evidence of Dr. Charles E. Saunders before the Select Standing Committee 
on Agriculture and Colonization, 1904, 1905. 
Evidence of Dr. William Saunders, Director Canada Experimental Farms, before 
Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization, 
1902,1900, 1903, 1904, 1905. 

Government of the Province of Saskatchewan. 

Bui. 4, Condition of the crops at harvest time, Sept. 20, 1906. 



354 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



TOPICAL INDEX OF AUTHORS 



Agricultural implements. 

See machinery 

Alkali. 

Kearney, T. II 

Ladd, E. F 

Loughridgc, R. II.... 
Arid farming. 

See semi-arid regions. 
Argentina. 

Baker, E. L 

Baker, W. E 

Becker, M 

Bicknell, F 

Dike, G. P ,. . 

Bacteria, soil and grain. 

Edwards, S. F 

Metcalf, H 

Moore, G. T 

Sheldon, J. L 

Wilev, H. W 

Woods, A. F 

Bibliography. 

Allen. E.W 

Becker, M 

Bolley, H. L 

Greathouse, C. H 

Hartey, L. L 

Howard , L. O 

Lyon, T. L 

Marquis, J. C 

Miller, M. F 

Osborn, H 

Swingle, W. T 

Birds. 

Beal, F. E. L 

Judd,S. D.. 

Bonanza farming. 

Atlantic Monthly . . . . 
Botany. 

BoUman, L 

Hitchcock, A. S 

Breakfast foods. 

See food, human 

Breeding. 

See culture 

Canada. 

Laut, A. C 

Nelson, M. O 

Roper, S. C. D 

Saunders, C. E 

Saunders, Wm 

Cereal breakfast foods. 

See food, human 

Chemistry. 

Gilbert, J. H 

Harper, J. N 

Kedzie, R. C 

Lawes, J. B 

Patten, A. J 

Peter, A. M 

Richardson, C 

Shutt, F. T 

Snyder, H 

Storer, F. H 

Teller, G. L 

Traphagen, F. W 

Voorhees, C. C 



Whitney, M 

Wiley. H. W 

Wrightson, J 

Commerce. 

See commercial 

Commercial and geographical dis- 
tribution. 

Adams, C. C 

Bunker, W.H 

Ford. W. C 

Fuchs, C. J 

Grimes, H. S 

Lexis, W 

Jiu'aschek, v 

Matson. C. H 

Mo. Summary Com. & Finance 

Muller, L 

N. Y. Produce Exchange 

Payne, W 

Plumb, C. S 

Railroad Gazette 

Rein, J 

Saturday Review 

Schumacher, H 

Sering, M 

Wiedenfeld, K 

Cost of production. 

Buffum. B. C 

Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. . . 

Poggi. T 

Crop, influence on business. 

Andrew, A. P 

Crop rotation. 

Chilcott, E. C 

Cole, J. C 

Holmes, G. K 

Lawes, J. B 

Cultivation. 

BufTum, B. C 

Dalrymple, W 

Fairchild, D 

Fairchild, W. H 

Spillman, W. J 

Culture. 
Breeding: 

Bessey, E. A 

Carleton, M. A 

Darwin, C 

De Vries, Hugo 

Gaviss, R 

Harwood, W. S 

Hays, W. M 

Keyser, A 

Lyon, T. L 

Nature 

Saunders. C. E 

Saunders. Wm 

Shamel, A. D 

Swingle. W. T 

Webber, H. J 

Zavitz, C. A 

General : 

Carleton, M. A 

Darwin, C 

Deh^rain, P. P 

Foster, L 

Penny Magazine 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



355 



Saunders, W 

Seed, 

Change of: 

BoUey, H. L 

Carleton, M. A 

Shepperd, J. H 

Smith, J. G 

Ten Evck, A. M 

Waters, H.J 

General : 

Duvel, J. W. T 

Hicks, G. H 

Pieters, A. J 

Selection : 

Clark, V. A. 

Dabney, J. C 

Hicks, G. H 

Lyon, T. L 

Webber, H. J 

Spring wheat: 

Andrews, C. C 

Winter wheat: 

Hays, W. M 

Keyser, A 

Lyon T. L 

Williams, C- G 

Diseases. 
General : 

Eriksson, J 

Freeman, E. M 

Galloway, B. T 

Selby, A. D 

Townsend, C. O 

Tubeuf, K 

Woods. A. F 

Rust : 

Annals of Botany 

Bennett, A. W 

Bolley, H. L 

Botanical Gazette 

Carleton, M. A 

Eriksson, J 

Garman, H 

Halsted, B. D 

Hitchcock, A. S 

Marquis, J. C 

Smith. W. G 

Smut: 

Bolley, H. L 

Hitchcock, A. S 

Ladd, E. F 

Scientific American 

Smith, B. H 

Swingle, W. T 

Wheeler, W. A 

Dry farming. 

See semi-arid regions 

Durum wheat. 

Carleton, M. A 

Chamberlain, J. S 

Chilcott, E. C 

Le Clerc. J. A 

Scofield. C. S 

Shepard, J. H 

Duties. 

Bradstreet's 

British Almanac Companion. 
Caird. J 



Knappen. T. M 

Lippert, G \ . . . 

Paasche, H 

Elevators. 

Bohm. O 

Cunningham , B 

Minn. R.R. & Warehouse Com. 
Emmer. 

Carleton. M. A 

Evolution. 

Allen, G 

Candolle, A. de 

Darwin. C 

Jackson. J. R 

Jesse, E 

Weldon, W. F. R 

Exports. 

Andrews, F 

Bovey, C. C 

Bradstreet's 

Farmer, business relations of. 

Adams, E. F 

Fertilizers. 

Beal, W. H 

Hall. A. D 

Haworth, E 

Hutchinson, W. L 

Hyde, J 

Schweitzer, P 

Street, J. P 

Thome. C. E 

Voorhees, E. B 

Wiley, H. W 

Food, animal. 

Allen, E. W 

Balz, S 

Cottrell, H. M 

Wheeler, W. A 

Food, human. 
Bread: 

Atwater, H. W 

Current Literature 

Douglas, E. S 

Johnson's Univer. Cy 

Macmillan 

Merrill, L. H 

New Internat. Ency 

Paton, J 

Scientific American 

Shepard. J. H 

Snyder, H 

Voorhees, L. A 

Woods, CD 

Breakfast foods: 

Albini, G 

General : 

American Cy 

Dalton, J C 

Hassall, A. H 

Snj^der, H 

Macaroni : 

American Cy 

Chamber's Ency 

Johnson's Univer. Cy 

New Internat. Ency 

Scaramelli, F 

Skinner, R. P 



356 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Nutritive values: 

Albini, G 

General. 

Edgar, W. C 

Gilbert, J. H 

Hartlib, S 

Hunt, T. F 

Industrial Commission 

Klippart, J. H.. . . 

Lawes, J. B 

Lorenz, C 

Tull, J 

Tusser, T 

Geography. 

See Commercial 

Germination. 

See jTowth 

Grading. 

See inspection 

Growth. 
General : 

Galloway, B. T 

Johnson, S. W 

Livingston, B. E 

Scientific American 

Woods, A. F 

Germination : 

King- Parks, H 

Ripening: 

Kedzie, R. C 

Roots: 

Shepperd, J. H 

Ten Eyck, A. M 

S tooling: 

Buffum, B. C 

Harvesting. 

Marcosson, I. F 

New Internat. Ency 

Implements. 

See machinery 

Insect enemies, growing grain. 
Chinch bug: 

Howard, L. O 

Washburn, F. L 

Webster, F. M 

General : 

Cooley, R. A 

Fletcher, J 

Garman, H 

Howard, L. O 

Marlatt, C. L 

Pettit, R. H 

Popenoe, E. A 

Saunders, D. A 

Shipley, A. E 

Taylor, C 

Washburn, F. L 

Webster, F. M 

Hessian fly: 

Johnson, W. G 

Osborn, H .... 

Stedman, J. M 

Webster, F. M 

Joint worm : 

Howard, L. O 

WebsteF, F. M 

Locusts : 

Bruner, L 



Howard, L. O 

Riley, C. V 

Spring grain-aphis: 

Webster, F. M 

Insect enemies, stored grain. 

Chittenden, F. H 

Inspection and grading. 

England, C 

Foering, J. O 

Lyon, T. L 

Montgomery, E. G 

Scofield, C. S 

Institutional. 

Experiment Stations: 

Atwater, W O 

Beal, W. H 

Colman, N. J 

Crosby, D. J 

Schulte, J. I 

True, A. C 

General : 

Allen, E. W 

Tri-State Grain Growers' 
Association 

True, A. C 

Institutes: 

Hamilton, J 

U. S. Dept. Agr.: 

Greathouse, C. H 

Smith. C. B 

Tisserand, E 

Insurance. 

Emminghaus, 

Insurance Times. 

Minn. Ins. Commission. . . . 

Walford, C 

Irrigation. 

Beals, E. A 

Bond, F 

Buffum, B. C 

Code, W. H 

Coffin, F. F. B 

Culbertson, H 

Dennis, J. S 

Elliott. C. G 

Gregorv, J. W 

Hay, R 

Hinton, R. J 

Irving, H 

Johnson, C. T 

King, T. H 

Mead, E 

Nettleton, E. S 

Newell, F. H 

Powers, L. G 

Ross, D. W 

Shepard, J. H 

Stannard, J. D 

Tait, C. E 

Teele, R. P 

Ulrich, J. C 

Upham, W 

Vernon, J. J 

Wilson, J. M 

Macaroni. 

See food 

Macaroni wheat. 

See durum wheat 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



357 



Machinery. 

Ardrey, R. L 

Arnold, A 

British Mfg. Industries 

Casson, Herbert N. 

Chase, Leon Wilson 

Davidson, J. Brownlee 

Farm Machinery Daily 

Fitch, C. H... .' 

Fowler, E. M 

Holmes, G. K 

Knight, E 

Ladd, S. B 

Maxwell, G. H 

Miller, M. F 

Minn. Bu. of Labor Statis 

Nat. Ass'n Agr. Impl. Mfgrs. . . , 

Perels, E 

Pusey, P 

Retrospective exhibit, etc 

Roberts, I. P 

Rose, J 

Scientific American 

Skinner, T. C 

Stabler, E 

Swift, R. B 

Thomas, J. J 

Wrightson, J 

Meteorologv. 

Bigelow,F. H 

Burrows, A. T 

Soule, A. M 

Vanatter, P. O 

Wiley, H. W 

Milling. 

Gilbert, J. H 

Girard, A 

Hoffman, C. B 

Neftel, K 

Nesbit, C 

Saunders, C. E 

Scientific American 

Shutt, F. T 

Smith, K 

Teller, G. L 

Wallace, J. R 

Wiley, H. W 

Movement of wheat. 

See transportation 

Pacific Coast. 

Holmes, E. S 

Port facilities. 

Andrews, F 

Price. 

Conrad, J 

Crawford, R. F 

Jour. Pol. Econ 

Lippert, G 

McCulloch, J. R 

Noyes, A. D 

Peters, E. T 

Rogers, J. E. T 

Spectator 

Stevens, A. C 

Veblen, T. B 

Production. 

Atkinson, E 

Kapp, F 



McClure, W. F 

Peterson, C. W 

Quarterly Review. 

Smith, T. T. V 

Thompson, C. W 

White, H 

Wiedenfeld, K 

Williams, J. R 

Wirminghaus, A 

Wrightson, J 

Ripening. 

See growth 

Russia. 

Allgemeines statis. Archiv 

Austin, O. P 

Burgel, M 

Hourwich, LA 

Jollos, 

Mertens, O 

Rubinow, I. M 

Thun, A 

Rust.. 

See diseases 

Seed. 

See culture 

Selection. 

See breeding 

Semi-arid regions. 

Carleton , M . A 

Merrill, L. A 

Payne, J. E 

Widtsoe, J. A 

Smut. 

See diseases 

Soil. 

Bonsteel, J. A 

Breazeale, J. F 

Briggs, L. J 

Cameron, F. K 

Dorsev, C. W 

Gardner, F. D 

Hopkins, C. G 

Hummel, J. A 

Huston, H. A 

Hutchinson, W. L 

Jensen, G. H 

King, F. H 

Ladd, E. F 

Means, T. H 

Shepperd, J. H 

Snyder, H 

Ten Evck, A. M 

Whitney, M 

Soil bacteria. 

See bacteria 

Speculation. 

Conant, C. A 

Davis, C. W 

Emery, H. C 

Hill, J 

Hutchinson, B. P 

L^vy, R. G 

Mason, F. H 

Nelson, S. A 

Options 

Passy, F 

Payne, W 

Repts. from Her Majesty's, etc. 



358 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Sayons, A. E 

Smith, C. W 

Stevens, A. C 

Whelpley, J. D 

Steam power. 

All the Year Round. 

Chambers' Jour 

Stooling. 

See growth 

Supply. 

Crawford, R. F 

Crookes, W 

Davis, C. W 

Drill, R 

Fleming, O 

Ford,W. C 

Giffin, R 

Grosvenor, W. M.. . . 

Hadley, A. T 

Hyde, J 

Jour. Pol. Econ 

Leiter, J 

Marsten, R. B 

Noyes, A. D 

Poynting, J. H 



Saturdav Review 

Snow, B. W 

Thompson, S. P 

Veblen. T. B 

Tillering. 

See growth 

Transportation . 

Baker, R. S 

Brandenburg, B 

Industrial Commission. 

Kucynski, R. R 

Railroad Gazette 

Walsh, G. E 

Varieties. 

Boss, A 

Hess, E. H 

Miller, N. G 

Risser, A. K 

Scofield, C. S 

Watson, G. C 

Weeds. 

Dewey, L. H 

Havs, W. M 

Waidron, L. H 



INDEX 



Page 
A. 

Acclimatization 49-50 

Acreage : 

Argentina 313 

England 315 

India 310-311 

Russia 309 

United States 304 

Adaptation to environment 40, 54 

Adulterations of flour 301 

Aegilops 3 

Ovato 3 

Agricultural classes 29-31 

Agricultural colleges 32 

Agriculture : 

Argentina 312 

Australia 315 

Canada 314 

China 31 

Competition of 30 

Early conceptions 30 

Europe 31 

Governmental support 31-32 

India 310 

Methods of . 33 

Middle West 33 

Nature of 29-30 

Russia 308 

Alkali 120-121 

Amylum 283 

Analyses of irrigation waters.... 141 

Ancient cultivation 58 

Angoumois grain moth 182-183 

Animal breeding 39 

Animal power 59, 61 

Anthers 14, 20 

Antiquity of wheat 2 

Aphis, Spring grain 180-181 

Appendix 321 

Arbitrage 246 

Arctic Circle 4,5 

Army worms 181 

Arnautka wheat 49 

Ash 26-27, 48 

Associations, Local grain dealers, 217 

Aveneae 2 

Awns 14 

B. 

Bacteria, Nitrification 130-134 

Bakeshops 288-289 

Baking: 

Chemical changes in 290-291 

Cost of 293 

Losses in 290-29 1 

Bananas as food 7 

Barley 2,4-5 

Beards 14 

Bibliography 326, 354 

Biological changes in growth 18-20 

Birds 154-155 



Page 

Biscuits 297 

Bleaching of flour 2 74-275 

Blight 169 

Blue stem wheat 11, 47 

Board of Trade, Chicago 248 

Bonanza wheat growing 60 

Bran 16 

Composition of 25 

Bread 286-293 

Aerated 290 

Ancient 286 

Baking of 289-293 

Crumb 293 

Crust 293 

Durum wheat flour 284 

Fermentation 21 

Gluten 290 

Graham 289-290 

Kinds of 289-290 

Leavened 289 

Salt rising 290 

Unleavened 289 

Yeast 287 

Bread baking: 

Chemical changes in 290-291 

Chemical losses in 290-291 

Cost of 293 

Bread flour: 

Strong 286-287 

Weak 286-287 

Bread making 287-289 

Ancient 287-288 

Bakeshops 288-289 

Primitive methods 287 

Processes of 288-289 

Breeding 33-46 

Co-operative work of 45 

Resiilts of 46 

Broadcast seeding 65-66 

Bucket shops 255-258 

Functions of 257-258 

Operation of 256 

Buckwheat 5 

Bushel of wheat 22 

Buyers of wheat 215. 217 



Calls ;... 243-244 

Car shortage 195 

Center of production 4, 303-304 

Cereals: 

Origin of 2-3 

Value of 7 

Chaflf 14 

Composition of 25 

Cheat •.•■•.••• 151 

Chemical changes in germination, 17 
Chemical composition 23, 49, SO 

of one crop 24 

Chemistry 25-28 

Chess 151 



359 



360 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Page 

Chinch bug 174-175 

Distribution uf 174 

Life history 174 

Loss from 175 

Remedies 175 

Classification 8-10, 321-325 

Approximate 9 

Bases of 9-10 

Geographical basis 10 

Climate 48-51 

Effects of 44 

Climatic influences 20 

Club wheat 11 

Cockle 153 

Color of wheat 50 

Combined harvester_^and thresher, 

Illustration of . .'. 104 

Combined plow, disc and seeder. 

Illustration of 60 

Commercial charges 213 

Commercial grades 223-224 

Composition and 28 

Commercial grading 221-222 

Commercial importance of wheat, 8 

Common bread wheat. Soils for. . 48 

Common descent. Theory of 35 

Common wheat 11 

Composition : 

Commercial grades and 28 

Fertilizers and 27-28 

Light and 28 

Seasons and 27-28 

Consumption 7-8, 284-302 

Europe 319 

Northern hemisphere 319 

Per capita 302 

Southern hemisphere 319 

Corn 2, 7 

Distribution of 7 

Indian '. . 6 

Production of 7 

Selection of 39-40 

Value of 7 

Corners 249-255 

Actual wheat 250 

Harper 251 

Hutchinson 251 

International 255 

Leiter 252-255 

Lyon 251 

Speculative 250 

Corn stones 262 

Corn trade. Importance of 214-215 

Cost of production 103-107 

Argentina 105 

Europe 105-106 

India 106 

Itemized per acre 103 

Labor required 106-107 

Per acre 103-106 

United States 105, 106 

Crackers 297 

Cradle 79-80 

American 80 

Use of 80 

Cranose flakes 298 

Cropping, Continuous 108 



Page 

Crop rotation 108- 1 1 5 

Ancient 110 

Argentina 114-115 

Canada Ill, 114 

Com<parative utility of 108-110 

Egypt '. lis 

European 110 

Experiments in 111,112 

Foreign 114-115 

Japan 110 

Mixed crops 115 

New countries 108-109 

Russia 114 

Types in United States 113-114 

United States Ill 

Crops, Mixed 115 

Cross-fertilization 40-46 

Artificial 41 

Culms 13 

Cultivation 2, 58 

Continuous 136, 143 

Definition of 58 

Effect on climate 58 

Effect on growth 59 

Effect on plant 58 59 

One operation 71-72 

Selective influence of 58, 59 

Subsequent to sowing 72 

Culture 29 

Customs, Early 73-77 

Cut-worms 181 

D. 

Darnel 152-153 

Dealers 242 

Delivery 244-245 

Time of 244 

Demand 234-235 

Description of wheat . . . . 11-24, 321-325 

Deterioration of wheat 57 

Development of wheat 3 

Dibbling 65-66 

Differentials 192, 193 

Discovery 2 

Discrimination, Railway 218-219 

Diseases 148-169 

Classification 148 

Drought 148 

Excessive moisture 149-150 

Floods 148 

Fungous 155-169 

Hail 148 

Plant influences 150-154 

Remedies 45 

Storms 148 

Unfavorable soil 150 

Weather influences 148-150 

Distance seaport to primary mar- 
ket 193-194 

Distribution 7, 8-11 

Altitudinal 5 

As affected bv soils 47-48 

Cost of , 213 

Historical and geographical .... 6 

Latitudinal 4-5 

Longitudinal 4 

U. S. by States 304 



INDEX 



361 



Page 

Diversified fanning 303 

Dockage, Elevator 154. 224-225 

Domestication 36 

Drill. 67.68 

Disc press 67 

Hoe 68 

Press 67,68 

Shoe 68 

Typical farm 64 

Drilling 65-66 

Drought 148 

Durum wheat 8. 10, 11 

Districts of 48 

Exports of 307 

Field in North Dakota 292 

Milling of 307 

Production of 307 

Root development 13 

Rust resistance 169 

Soils for 48 

United States 307 

Varieties 56 

Dust Collector 275 

E. 

Early Genesee Giant 44 

Early ripening 45 

Economic position of wheat grow- 
ers 33 

Einkom 11 

Elevator certificates 245-246, 248 

Elevators 203-204 

Baltimore 209 

Boston 209 

Buffalo 206-207 

Capacity of 205, 208-209 

Chicago 206 

Consolidation of 207 

Dealers' 204 

Dockage 154, 224-225 

Duluth 206 

Farmers' 204 

Floating 208 

Function of 203 

Galveston 209 

Illustration of 202 , 236 

Kansas City 206 

Legislation concerning 209 

Lines of 204 

Minneapolis 206 

New York 208 

Pacific coast 204-205, 209 

Philadelphia 208-209 

Railroads and 207 

Seaboard 208-209 

St. Louis 206 

Terminal 205 

Types of 204 

Embryo IS, 21 

limmer 11,56 

Endosperm 15,21,25 

Enemies 150-169 

Equator 5 

Evolution 2-3, 35-36 

Discontinuous 35 

Theory of 35 

Experiment stations 32 



Page 

Exportation, Cost of 213 

Exports : 

Argentina 319 

Argentine flour 313 

Argentine wheat 313 

Atlantic coast 189-193 

Atlantic ports 305 

Australia 315 

Belgium 316 

Chile 316 

Early 196 

Egypt 316 

Factors increasing 196 

Gulf 189-193 

Gulf ports 305 

Increase of 196 

India 311, 319 

Leading ports 305 

Netherlands 316 

Northern Africa 316 

Oriental 197 

Pacific coast 194, 196-197 

Statistics United States 305 

Roumania 316 

United States 304-305 

Uruguay 316 

Western United States 304 

World 318 

F. 

Farm animals 7 

Farmers' institutes .• 32 

Farming 383 

Diversification of 303 

High 109 

Intensive and extensive 108-110 

Farms, wheat 7 

Fedelina . 296 

Feeding of wheat 301-302 

Fertilitv, Constancv of 11 

Fertilization ' 20-21 

Fertilizers 142-148 

Ancients and 124 

Application of 134-135 

Benefits of 126-127 

Commercial 134-136 

Drilling of 135 

Effects of 142-145 

Extent of use 124 

Germination and 142 

Irrigation and 141-142 

Kinds of 135-141 

laws 145 

Miscellaneous 140 

Need of 134 

Plant food and 143-145 

Prices of 146 

Statistics 146 

Theories of 125-127 

Wasted by rivers 1 48 

Yield and 143-145 

Fertilizing: 

By sewage waters 141-142 

Cost of 146 

Definition of 124 

Value of animals 136 

Field of durum wheat 292 



3G2 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Page 
Field of wheat, Illustration of . . . . 112 

Fife wheat 11 

Fire 148 

Fixation of qualities 43 

Flax. Selection of 39 

Flour 21 

Acidity of 21 

Adulteration of 301 

Bleaching of 274-275, 285 

Brands of 285-286 

Bread 286-287 

Commercial grades 285-286 

Comparative values of 285 

Composition of 26, 299 

Durum wheat 284 

Entire wheat 284-285 

Grades of 275 

Graham 284 

Hard-wheat 283 

Pastrv 284 

Patent 270,275 

Self-raising 285 

Soft-wheat 283-284 

Flour beetles 184 

Flour moth 183-184 

Flours, Different uses of 283 

Flour yield of wheat 277 

Flowering 20-21 

Flowers of wheat 14 

Food of plants 126-127 

Food of plants, Fertilizers and . . 143-145 

Food supply. Scarcity of 316 

Food taken from soil by plants. . . 147 

Food, Wheat as 7, 8, 286 

Frosts 149 

Frumitv 283 

Fultz..' 11 

Fungous enemies • . . . 155-169 



Gambling 255 

Garlic 153 

Germination 16-17,18, 22-23, 142 

Germination and Fertilizers 142 

Germ of wheat 15,25 

Glume-spot 155 

Glumes 14 

Gluten 27, 273, 283 

Gluten content 10, 48-49 

Grades : 

Commercial 223-224 

Composition and 28 

Contract 222-223, 224 

Contract, Gresham's law 225 

Uniformity of 223 

Grades of flour 275 

Grading 221-222 

Grain aphis 180-181 

Grain beetles 184 

Grain dealers 242 

Independent 217-218 

Grain dealers' associations: 

Local 217 

Rules and practices of 218 

Grain moth 182-183 

Grain privileges 243-244 



Page 

Grain railways 189 

Grains in bushel 22 

Grains in spike 15 

Grain trade: 

Development of 214 

Importance of 214-215 

Grain vessels. Nationality of 19 7 

Gramineae 2 

Granary weevil 182 

Grape-Nuts 298, 300 

Grass : 

Classification 2-3 

Family of 2-3 

Origin of 2-3 

Grasshoppers (See Locust) .... 176-179 

Green bug 180-181 

Gresham's law 225 

Growers of wheat 29-31, 2i 

Growth: 

Heat units and 11-24, 127 

Period of 23-24 

Processes of 127 

Rainfall and 23-24 

Temperature and 23-24 

Guano 137-138 

Gulf exports 189-193 

Gypsum 139-140 

II. 

Hail 148 

Handstones 262 

Hardness of wheat 51 

Hard spring wheat 53 

Hard winter wheat 10 

Harrowing 70-7 1 

Objects of 70 

Harrows: 

Ancient 70-71 

Disc 71 

Modern 71 

Primitive 70 

Tooth 71 

Harvest customs 73-77 

Ancient 74-75 

European 74 

Modern 75-77 

Harvesters, Combined 90-95 

Definition of 90 

Horse power 92 

Illustration of 104 

Steam 92-93 

Stripper 91 

Use in United States 92 

Use of 90 

Use of stripper. ^ 91 

Harvesters, Self-binding 87-89 

Classes of 87-88 

Definition of 87 

Illustration of 34, 128 

Low-down 87-88 

Modern 87,89 

Patents on 88 

Harvesting : 

Implements of 78-94 

Maturity of wheat for 78 

Outfit complete 93-94 

Primitive methods 78 



INDEX 



363 



.Page 

Harvest laborers 75-77 

American migration of 75-7 7 

European migration of. ... . . 75 

Typical American . 76 

Harvest period 4S 

Customs of 73-77 

Risks of 73-74 

Harvest time succession 76-77 

Hay, wheat ... 302 

Header 80-84 

Cutting 82-84 

Definition of 81 

Early 83 

Gallic 81. 83 

Illustration of 82 

Kinds of 81 

Modern 83, 84 

Stripping 81 

Use of 84 

Header barges 82 

Header binder ' 89 

Header. Use of 89 

Mississippi valley 84 

Pacific coast 84 

Hedging sales 246 

Hessian fly 170-174 

Description of 170-172 

Distribution of 170 

Effect on wheat. ... 172 

Introduction of 170 

Life history 170-172 

Losses from 172-173 

Remedies 173-174 

Homotyposis 3S 

Hordeae 2 

Hot waves 149 

Hot winds 149 

Humus 129-130 

Crop rotation and . 129-130 

Supply of 129 

Hungarian milling 270 

Hybridization 40-46 

Basis stock of 41 

Botanical classes and 43 

Characteristics affected by 45 

Composite 44 

History of 43-46 

Of races 41 

Process of . 41 

Results of 42 

With rye 45 

Hybrids: 

Characteristics of . 41 

Garton's 42 

Natural 40 

I. 

Importance of wheat 6-8 

Qualitative ... 6 

Quantitative 6 7 

Importation of seed . 50 

Imports: 

Great Britain 314* 

Rome 1 316 

World 318 

Improved varieties, Permanence of 46 

Improvement of wheat 33-46 



Page 

Index of authors. Topical 354 

Indian meal moths 184 

" Inland Empire" 93 

Insect enemies 1 70-187 

Growing wheat 170-181 

Losses to growing grain 181 

Losses to stored grain 184 

Remedies, Growing grain ... . 181 

Remedies, Stored grain 184-185 

Species 170 

Stored wheat 181-185 

Inspection 219-220 

Institutional evolution 29-33 

Insurance 186-1S7, 226-227 

Grain in transit 226 

Growing grain — Europe 186 

Growing grain — United States, 186-187 

Marine 227 

Natural destroyers in field . . . 186-187 

Stored grain 226 

International grain trade 305 

International wheat trade 318 

Irrigated wheat 51 

Irrigation 116-123 

Alkali 120-121 

Ancient 115-116 

Cost of 121 

Early United States 117 

Historical llS-116 

Methods 119-120 

Modern— Foreign countries. .. 116-117 

Modern — United States 118 

Problems 118-119 

Rainfall and 122 

Semi-arid region of U . S 121-123 

Irrigation water: 

Composition of 120-121 

Fertilizing value of 146 

Supply of 118 

Italian paste 236 

Joint worm 181 

Jones' winter fife 45 

K. 

Kernel 15-16 

Kouskous 283 

Kubanka 11, 51 

L. 

Labor 59 106-107 

Cost of. ... 59 

Human 59 

Required for production .... 106-107 

I ake shipments 194 

Land plaster 139-140 

Leaf blight 169 

Leaves 14, 18 

Lime 138-139 

Line elevator companies 204 

Locusts 176-179 

Breeding grounds of 177-178 

Life history 178-179 

Plagues of 176-178 

Remedies 180 

Rocky Mountain 177-179 



364 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Page 

Loose smut 159 

Loss from : 

Natural destroyers 185 

Poor seed 54 

M. 

Macaroni 293-296 

Composition of 296 

Food value of 293 

Processes of manufacture. . . .295-296 

Wheats used 293-294 

Macaroni industry 294-295 

Foreign countries 294 

United States 294 

Macaroni wheat: 

Field of 292 

Machinery: 

Distribution of 99 

Harvesting 78-94 

Manufacture of . 99 

Manure 136-137 

Deterioration of 137 

Map of wheat in United States. . . 9 

Margins 244,260 

Market: 

Local 240 

Primary. 188. 219 

Speculative 241 

World 241 

Marketing 214-233 

Argentina 231-233 

Canada 232-233 

Foreign countries 228-233 

India 230-231 

Methods of 215 

Russia 228-230 

Markets 240-241 

Marl 139 

Material in acre crop 24 

Maturity, early 11 

Meal snout-moth 184 

Meal worms 184 

Measurement of wheat 22 

Mediterranean flour moth. ... 183-184 

Meridian bisecting acreage 4 

Middlings 274 

Middlings purifier 274 

Midge 175-176 

Migration of wheat. 1-2, 4 

Mildew 169 

Milling 262-282 

Bleaching of flour 274-275 

Bolting 267 

Cleaning of wheat 273 

Dust collector 275 

Early inventions 267 

Early United States 267-268 

Fimdamental processes . . .273-274 
Gradvial reduction process. . . .270-271 

High 268-269 

Long system 271 

Low 268 

Middlings 269 

Milling proper 274 

Mixmg of wheat 272-273 

Modern 267-275 

Present processes 271-275 



Page 

Milling, Roller 269-270 

Selection of wheat 271-272 

Short system 271 

Spring wheat 269 

Time required 276 

Winter wheat 269 

Milling industry 279-282 

Argentina 282 

Australia 282 

Canada 282 

Census United States 280 

Foreign countries 280-282 

Geographical location U.S.. .279-280 

Great Britain 281 

Hungary 280-281 

Leading states U. S 279-280 

Minneapolis 279 

Mmnesota 279 

Netherlands 282 

New Zealand 282 

Orient 282 

Russia 281-282 

United States 279-280 

Milling products 275, 283 

Mills: 

Ancient 263 

Capacity of 276-277 

Cattle 265 

Early United States 266-267 

Handstones 262 

Large modern 272, 278 

Large typical 2 76-277 

Mortar and pestle 262-264 

Quern 264 

Saddle stones 263 

Slave 265 

Types of 262 

Water 265-266 

Wind 265-266 

Minnesota No. 169 wheat 11 

Minnesota 163 wheat 22 

Mixing 225-226, 272-273 

Moisture content 26, 50 

Moisture effects 50 

Moisture, Excessive 149-150 

Mortar and pestle 263 

Type of 262-264 

Moths: 

Angoumois grain ... 182-183 

Indian meal 184 

Meal snout 184 

Mediterranean flour 183-184 

Motor power .... 59-61 

Animal 59,61 

Electricity 61 

Human 59 

Steam 61 

Movement of wheat . . .303-319 

Eastern 189-192 

Export United States 304-305 

Financiering of . 227-228 

Internal United States 304-305 

Southern 192-193 

World 316-319 

Multiplication of wheat 21-22 

Mummy wheat 15,23 

Mustard 153 



INDEX 



365 



Page 
N. 

Name of wheat 1-2 

Natural destroyers, Losses from. . 185 

Natural environment 47-5 1 

Natural Food Company 300 

New varieties 32 

Nitragin 132 

Nitrate of soda 139 

Nitrogen 131-134 

Fixing of 131-134 

Pure cultures 133-134 

Nitrogen bacteria 132-134 

Artificial distribution of 133-134 

Classes of 132 

Description of 133-134 

Nitrogen content 22 

By soil inoculation 132-134 

Nitrogen famine 131 

Nitrogen free extract 27 

Nodes 13-14. 17 

Nomenclature 8 

Non-shattering wheat 1 1, 45 

Noodles 297 

Northern grown seed 41 

Northern limits of production .... 4 

O. 

Oats 2,5 

Consumption of 7 

Organs of reproduction 14 

Oriental trade 197 

Origin of wheat 1-3 

Biological 2-3 

Etymological 1 

Geographical 1-2 

Historical - 2 

Outline of 

Authors, topical 354 

Bibliography 327 

Wheat 321-325 

Ovary 14 

Ovulary 20 

P. 

Pacific coast exports 194 

Pasturing of wheat 72,302 

Per capita consumption 302 

Period of growth 17, 23-24.49 

Phosphoric acid 138 

Physical properties 22 

Pit, Chicago 248 

Plant breeding. Father of 43 

Plant lice. Wheat 176 

Plant pathology 481 

Plow ; . . 63 

Common hand '. . . 63 

Coulters 62 

Early American 61, 62 

Early European 62 

Electric 63 

Fowler 63 

Gang 63 

Modern 63 

Patents on 63 

Primitive 61-63 

Sulky 63 



Page 

Plowing 61-65 

Depth of 65 

Popular prejudices 62 

Tail 62 

Time of 63-65 

Polish wheat 3. 8, 11 

Pollen 20-21, 40 

Potash 139 

Potatoes as food 7 

Poulard wheat 11 

Powdery mildew 169 

Predictions of wheat shortage .316-317 

Prehistoric wheat 2 

Price 234-261 

Argentina 313 

Communication and 237 

Competition and 237-238 

Exportation and 238 

Factors of 234 

India 311 

Reactions 235, 237 

Transportation and 237 

Visible supply and 238-239 

Price determining influences 241 

Primary grain markets 188 

Primary market 219 

Pringle's Defiance 44 

Privileges, grain 243-244 

Production 7. 303-319 

Argentina 311-313 

Australian 315-316 

Austria-Hungary 316 

Belgium 316 

Brazil 316 

Canada 313-315 

Chile 316 

Egypt 316 

Europe 319 

Factors of 108. 100 

France 316 

Germany 316 

Increase of in Russia 308 

India 310-311 

Italy 316 

Land values and 303 

Limits of in United States 303 

Manchuria 197 

Mexico 316 

Movement of wheat and 303 

Netherlands 316 

Northern Hemisphere 319 

Roumania 316 

Russia 307-310 

Siberia 309 

Southern Africa 316 

Southern Hemisphere 319 

Statistical 304 

Statistics. Argentina 313 

Statistics. England 315 

Statistics, India 311 

Statistics, Russia 309 

Statistics. Worid 317 

United Kingdom 315 

United States 304 

Uruguay 316 

Worid 316-319 

Products of wheat. Animal food. 301-302 



366 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Page 

Profit on raising wheat 106 

Protein 27 

Puts 243-244 



Quern 264 

R. 

Railroads: 

Discriminati'on 218-2 19 

Elevators and 207 

Grain lines 189 

Rail shipments, statistics . . . 194-19S 
Rain belt in United States ..... 122 

Rainfall in United States 121-123 

Ready-to-eat wheat foods 297-301 

Commercial success of 300 

Composition of 299 

Consumption of 299-300 

Kinds of 298 

Processes of manufacture 298 

Reaper 84-86 

Bell's 85 

Early American 86 

Early English 85-86 

Definition of 84 

Illustration of 306 

Modern self-rake 86 

Use of 86-87 

Red wheat 10 

Regermination 17 

Resistant to climate. Wheat 11 

Rice 2 

Rice as a food 7 

Rice weevil 182 

Ripening 20, 21 

Time required 23-24 

River wheat tug, Illustration of 191 

Roller milling. Process of 269-270 

Romanow wheat 5 

Roots 11-13, 18 

Root system 12 

Rotation of crops 144-145 

Russian cactus 151-152 

Russian soils 307-308 

Russian thistle. . . 151-152 

Description of 152 

Dispersion of 151 

Extermination of 152 

Rust 162-169 

Black or stem 162 

Crown 162 

Development 166-167 

Dispersion of 165-166 

Distribution of 166 

How damage results 167 

Kinds of 162 

Life history. 162-166 

Losses from lo7-168 

Red or orange leaf 162 

Remedies 168-169 

Resistance to 45 

Resistant wheat 10 

Resisting varieties . 168 

Spores, Growth of 163-164 

Spores, Kinds of . 163 

Spores, Viability of 165-166 



Rye 2 

Consumption of 7-8 

Food 7 

Production in Russia 309 

Winter 4-5 

S. 

Saddle stones 263 

Salt 140 

Salts and germination 16 

Sawflies 181 

Scotch fife wheat 47 

Scythe 79-80 

Hainault 79 

Use of 79 

Seacoast wheat 49 

Sea level wheat 5 

Seasonal effects 51 

Section of wheat grain 16 

Seed 51-69 

Advantages of exchange 54-55 

Amount of, per acre 69 

Bed for 65 

Dealers in 53 

Deterioration of 54-55 

Effects of good and poor 52 

Evils of exchange of 55 

Importance of 51 

Importations 56 

Purchase of 51, S3 

Wheat for 51-56 

Seeders 66-6*^ 

Ancient 68 

Early English 66-67 

Force feed 67, 68 

Patents on 67 

Wagon 67 

Width of 68 

Seeding 17, 65-66 

By nature 69 

Depth of 70 

Time of 69-70 

Selection 3. 36-40 

Artificial 36 

Characteristics influenced by. . . 39-40 

Early 37 

Heavy seed 39 

Incidences of 36 

Light seed 38 

Minnesota station 37 

Natural 36, 40 

Results of 37-40 

Self-binding harvester. Illustra- 
tion of 34, 87, 128 

Self-fertilization. 21, 41, 43 

Semi-arid region of U. S.. 121-123, 307 

Semi-hard district 9 

Semolina 295 

Sewage waters as fertilizers 141-142 

Sharlock 153 

Shipments out of country 304 

Shocking 90 

Shorts, Composition of 25 

Shredded Wheat Biscuit 297-298 

Sickle 78-79 

Smut ,.. .155-162 

Early remedies 155, 157 



IKDEX 



367 



Page 

Smut Growtb of 1S7-1S8 

In ancient times 155 

Kinds of 155 

Loose 159 

Losses from 161-162 

Remedies 159-161 

Remedies, Expense of 161 

Remedies, Results of 161 

Stinking 158-159 

Smut, Loose — Remedies: 

Modified hot water method. . . 160-161 

Smut spores. Viability of 159 

Smut, Stinking — Remedies 160 

Copper sulphate 160 

Corrosive sublimate 160 

Formalin 160 

Hot water treatment 160 

Jensen treatment 160 

Smutted straw. Cross sections of, 158 

Soft v/heat 44 

Soils for 48 

Soft wheat district 9 

Soil bacteria 130-134 

Soil nitrogen 48, 130-134 

Soils 144 

Amount of plant food stored by. 144 

Analyses of 124-12 5 

Climate and 50-51 

Climatic effects on 58 

Composition 144 

Composition and plant life. . . 124-127 

Effects of 44 

Humus 129-130 

Improvement of 143-144 

Influence of 47 

Inoculation and 132-134 

Method of analysis 127 

Moisture and 130 

Physical condition of 59 

Preparation for sowing 65 

Preparation of 58 

Russian 307-308 

Structure of 126 

Texture of 126 

Types of 47-48 

Unfavorable 150 

Sonora wheat Si 

Southern grown seed 49 

Southern wheat district 9 

Sowing 65-66 

By nature 69 

Methods of 65-66 

Time of 69-70 

Species 11 

Specific gravity 22 

Speculation : 

Bear 243 

Bull 242-243 

Decreasing importance of . . . .260-261 

Evils of 249-258 

Foreign countries 258-259 

Functions of 246-247 

Legislation and 258 

Machinery of 242-244 

Manipulations and 258 

Price fluctuations and 260 

Results of 259-261 



Page 

Speculative market. Rise of 241 

Speculator, Characteristics of . . . 247-248 

Rise of 242 

Spelt .3, 8, 11, 56 

Spike 14-15, 17 

Spikelets 14-15 

Spring and fall wheat 51 

Spring wheat 10 

Spring wheat, hard 11 

Squarehead wheat 11 

Stamens 20 

Standard of living 7 

Starch content 48-49 

Starchy wheat 10 

States, Production in 304 

Steam in agriculture 61 

Steam planting, Illustration of. . . 60 

Steam plowing 63 

Stem, Growth of 13 

Stigma 14, 20, 40 

Stinking smut 158-159 

Stocks in farmers' hands 304,318 

Stooling 17 

Storage 201-213 

Farm 201 

Local market 203-205 

Pacific coast 204-205 

Primary market 205-208 

Russia 229 

Seaboard 208-209 

Storage capacity: 

Baltimore 209 

Boston 209 

Buffalo 206-207 

Chicago 206 

Galveston 209 

Kansas City 206 

Minneapolis 206 

New York 208 

Philadelphia 208-209 

Portland, Oregon 209 

St. Louis 206 

Storage, Charges of 209-2 13 

Atlantic coast 211-212 

Inland 209, 211 

Pacific coast 212 

Seaboard 211-212 

Storage, Foreign 201 

Storage, Illustration of: 

Pacific coast farm 210 

Pacific coast river 216 

Primary market 236 

Small elevators 202 

Storms 148 

Straw 10, 20 

Composition of 25 

Fertilizer value of 140 

Fodder 302 

Miscellaneous uses of 302 

Per acre 24 

Straw worms. 181 

Sub-humid region in U. S 121-123 

Subsoil " 13 

Sub-soiling 65 

Sugar beets: 

Seed 57 

Selection of 39-40 



368 



THE BOOK OF WHEAT 



Summer Fallows 110 

Supply 234-235 

Causes of variation 234 

Farm 304, 318 

Shortage of 185, 316-317 

Statistics 304-305, 318 

Visible 305 

Sweating of wheat 97 



T. 

Theory of mutations 35 

Thistle, Russian 151-152 

Thistles 153-154 

Three-field system 114 

Threshing 94-99 

Animal power 94-95 

Complete outfit 98, 99 

Definition of 94 

Early methods of 94 

Flail. 94,95 

Threshing machines: 

Early American 96-97 

Early European 96 

Early Scotch 95 

Evolution of 95-97 

Illustration of 98, 156 

Modern 97, 98 

Tillering 17 

Toll 277,279 

Trade in wheat, World 318 

Transactions, Volume of 248-249 

Transportation 188-200 

Argentina 232 

Canada 314 

Canal 191 

Competition in 189-192 

Distance seaport to primary 

market 193-194 

Farm to local market 188 

Lake 191, 194 

Local to primary market. . . . 188-189 

Out of county 304 

Pacific 194 

Pacific coast vessels 197 

Primary market to seaboard . 189-194 

Rail statistics 194-195 

River 191-193 

Russia 228-229 

Seaboard to foreign market .196-197 

Shortage of cars 195 

Stages of 188 

Water 189 

Water, Illustration of 191 

Transportation charges 197-200 

Atlantic ports to Europe 199 

Chicago to Liverpool 199 

Chicago to New York 198 

Discriminations 200 

Farm to Chicago 198-199 

Producer to consumer 198 

Triticum : 

Monococcum 

Polonicum 3 

Sativum compactum 

Sativum dicoccuin 

Sativum durvim 

Sativum spelta 3 



Page 

Triticum, Sativum turgidum 11 

Sativum vulgare 11 

Turkey red wheat 11,51 

Turkey wheat. Evolution of 40 

Twine, Use of 89 



U. 

United States Department of 

Agriculture 31-32 

V. 

Value of wheat 7 

Argentina 313 

United States 304 

Variation 35-36 

Characteristics subject to 35-36 

Inducement of 35 

Plant and soil 58-59 

Processes of 36 

Varieties 10-U 

Vermicelli 296 

Viability 22-23 

Victoria wheat 6 

Visible supply 238-239 

Canada 305 

United States 305, 318 

United States and Canada 318 

World 318 

W. 

Warehouse receipts 245-246 

Water in composition 26 

Water supply for irrigation 119 

Weeding of wheat 72 

Weeds 150-154 

Classification of 150-151 

Dispersion of 150 

General remedies 154 

Losses from 154 

Weevil, Granary 182 

Weevil, Rice 182 

Weighing 221 

Weight of wheat 22 

Weissenburg wheat 56 

"Whaleback," Illustration of 191 

Wheat: 

Red winter 56 

Selection by fanning mill 40 

Spring 4-5 

Value of 7 

Wheat bulb worm 181 

Wheat, fall, Soils for 48 

Wheat-field, Illustration of 112 

Wheat foods 286 

Wheat harvesting seasons 77 

Wheat hav 302 

Wheat lands, Russia 307-308 

Wheat midge 6 

Wheat plants. Effects of seed on. . 52 
Wheat production , Center of ... . 303-304 
Wheat products. Animal food. .301-302 

Wheat scab _ 155 

Wheat seed "running out" 54-55 

Wheat thief 153 

Wheat trade. Importance of. . . .214-215 
White wheat 10 



INDEX 



369 



Page 

Whole wheat 283 

Wild garlic 153 

Wild mustard 153 

Wild wheat 1 

Winter wheat S 

Winter wheat. Hard 11 

Winter wheat, Soft 11 

World's consumption 7 

World's famine of wheat. 185 316 317 

World's production 7 

Y 

Yeast 287 

Yeast plant 287, 290-291 

Yeast substitutes 291 

Yellow berry 155 



Page 

Yield 21-22, 100-103 

Australia lOo, 315 

Canada 314 

Early statistics 102 

Factors decreasing 100 

Factors increasing 100 

Fertilizers and 142-145 

France. . 101 

Great Britain 315 

Most favorable weather for. . . . 103 

Statistics of 101 

Volunteer crop 103 

United Kingdom 102 

United States 102 

Yielding power 10 

Yield of flour 277 



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History. Cultivation and Merits. Its Uses as a Forage 
and Fertilizer. The appearance of the Hon. F. D. Coburn's 
little book on Alfalfa a few years ago has been a profit revela- 
tion to thousands of farmers throughout the country, and the 
increasing demand for still more information on the subject 
has induced the author to prepare the present volume, which 
is by far the most authoritative, complete and valuable work 
on this forage crop published anywhere. It is printed on fine 
paper and illustrated with many full-page photographs that 
were taken with the especial view of their relation to the text. 
336 pages. 6;/2 x 9 inches. Bound in cloth, with gold stamp- 
ing. It is unquestionably the handsomest agricultural reference 
book that has ever been issued. Price, postpaid . . . $2.00 

Clean Milk 

By S. D. Belcher, M.D. In this book the author sets forth 
practical methods for the exclusion of bacteria from milk, 
and how to prevent contamination of milk from the stable to 
the consumer. Illustrated. 5x7 inches. 146 pages. 
Cloth - $1.00 



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